
aass_tJJ-/L 



Book 



,?,<^, 



i.Mu 



.^ ..f;;.. 




THE 



POETRY AND HISTORY 



WYOMING: j^JlZ 

CONTAINING 

CAMPBELL'S GERTRUDE, 



BY WASHINGTON IRVING, 

AND THE 

HISTORY OF WYOMING, 

FROM IT9 DISCOVERY TO THE BEGINNING OF THE PRESENT CENTURT, 

BY WILLIAM U' STONE. 



NEW- YORK & LONDON : 

WILEY AND PUTNAM. 
1841. 



Entered according to Act of Congress, by 

Wiley &. Putnam, 

In the Clerk's Office of the Southern District of New- York, 

in the year 1841. 



WEW-YORK: 

Hopkins & Jennings, Printers, 

1|] FuUoD-streel. 



l-lo^3l 



PREFACE 



The "Happy Valley" to which the illustrious author of 
Rasselas introduces his reader in the opening of that charm- 
ing fiction, was not much more secluded from the world than 
is the Valley of Wyoming. Situated in the interior of the 
country, remote from the great thorough-fares of travel, either 
for business, or in the idle chase of pleasure, and walled on 
every hand by mountains lofty and wild, and over which long 
and rugged roads must be travelled to reach it, Wyoming is 
rarely visited, except from stern necessity. And yet the im- 
agination of Johnson has not pictured so lovely a spot in the 
vale of Amhara as Wyoming. 

Much has been said and sung of the beauty of Wyoming ; 
yet but comparatively little is actually known to the public 
of its history. That a horrible massacre was once perpetrated 
there, and that the fearful tragedy has been commemorated 
in the undying numbers of Campbell, every body knows. 
But beyond this, it is believed that even what is called the 
reading public is but inadequately informed ; and there are 
thousands, doubtless, who would be surprised on being told 
that, independently of the event from which the poet has 
woven his thrilling tale of Gertrude, Wyoming has been the 
theatre of more historical action, and is invested with more 
historical interest, than any other inland district of the United 
States of equal extent. The revolutionary occurrence, sup- 
plying the Muse's theme in the beautiful tale just referred to, 



IV PREFACE. 

forms but a single incident in a course of fifty years of various 
and arduous conflict between belligerent parties of the same 
race and nation, each contending for the exclusive possession 
of that fair valley, and for the expulsion of the rival claim- 
ants. Added to which is its antecedent Indian history, ex- 
tending back more than fifty years prior to the intrusion 
of the white man, and perhaps a hundred. The dusky In- 
dians were engaged in bloody strife with each other there, 
hand to hand and foot to foot. All that is fierce and brutal, 
selfish and unrelenting, bitter and vindictive, in the passions 
of men embroiled in civil strife, has been displayed there. 
All that is lofty in patriotism — all that is generous, noble, 
and self-devoted in the cause of country and liberty, has been 
proudly called into action there. All that is true, confiding, 
self-denying, constant, heroic, virtuous, and enduring, in 
woman, has been sweetly illustrated there. 

Nevertheless the remark may be repeated that but com- 
paratively little of the actual history of this secluded dis- 
trict, — a history marked by peculiar interest, and a district 
upon which nature has bestowed beauty with a lavish hand, — 
is known to the general reader. True, indeed, Wyoming is 
mentioned in almost every book of American history written 
since the Revolution, as the scene of the massacre ; but for 
the most part, that is the only occurrence spoken of ; the 
only fact that has been rescued from the rich mine of its his- 
toric lore. The reader of poetry has probably dreamed of 
Wyoming as an Elysian field, among the groves of which 
the fair Gertrude was wont to stray while listening to the 
music of the birds and gathering wild-flowers ; and the super- 
ficial reader of every thing has regarded it as a place existing 
somewhere, in which the Indians once tomahawked a number 
of people. 

And yet Wyoming has had its own historian. More than 
twenty years ago a gentleman resident there, Mr. Isaac Chap- 



PREFACE. V 

man, undertook the preparation of a history, but he died 
before his work was completed. His manuscripts, however, 
were edited and published some years after his death ; but 
the work was very incomplete. The preliminary Indian his- 
tory was merely glanced at, while lliat of the revolutionary 
war was hurried over in the most imperfect and unsatisfac- 
tory manner possible. It was not written in a popular style, 
nor published in an attractive form. The author, morever, 
in regard to the protracted controversy between the Connec- 
ticut settlers and the Pennsylvanians, was governed by strong 
partialities in favour of the former. Proud's History of Penn- 
sylvania comes down no later than 1770 ; and from this it 
could scarcely be gathered that there was any such spot as 
Wyoming known. Gordon's late History only comes down 
to the Declaration of American Independence. He has, in- 
deed, devoted some twenty or thirty pages to the early stages 
of the civil contest in Wyoming, but he writes as though he 
had been a paid counsellor of the old Ogden Land Company, 
which so long and vainly strove to dispossess the Connecticut 
settlers. An impartial history, therefore, was a desideratum, 
and such I have attempted to supply, written in the style of 
popular narrative, confined to facts without speculation, and 
divested entirely of documentary citations. 

My own attention was directed to Wyoming as a field of 
historical investigation only about three years ago, when en- 
gaged in preparing for the press the Border Wars of the 
Revolution, as connected with the Life of the Mohawk chief- 
tain. Brant. It became necessary, in executing the plan of 
that work, to examine the history of Wyoming, so far at least 
as it had been connected, — most erroneously, — with the 
name of that distinguished warrior of the woods ; and I soon 
discovered so much of interest in the tales and traditions of 
the valley — its history, written and unwritten, — indepen- 
dently of the war of the revolution, — that I resolved upon 



the institution of farther investigations at some more conve- 
nient season. 

Keeping this object uppermost in my mind, I made a visit 
of relaxation and pleasure to Wyoming in the summer of 
1839, the result of which, through the kind assistance of my 
friend Charles Miner, and also of his nephew, Doctor Miner, 
was a collection of authentic materials suflncient for a small 
volume appertaining to the history of that valley alone. 

The name of Mr. Miner will frequently appear in the notes 
and references of the present volume. He is an able man, a 
native of Norwich, Connecticut, and emigrated to the Valley 
of Wyoming in the year 1799 — being then nineteen years 
of age. He first engaged in school teaching. Having a bro- 
ther, a year or two older than himself, who w^as a practical 
printer, he invited him to join him in his sylvan retreat, and 
establish a newspaper. The brother did so ; and the twain 
conjointly established the " Luzerne Federalist." This paper 
was subsequently superseded by " The Gleaner," but under 
the same editorial conduct — that of Charles Miner. It was 
through the columns of the Gleaner that Mr. Miner, for a 
long series of months, instructed and amused the American 
people by those celebrated essays of morals and wit, of fact 
and fancy, and delicate humour, purporting to come " From 
the Desk of Poor Robert the Scribe," and which were very 
generally republished in the newspapers. The Gleaner and 
its editor became so popular, that the latter was invited to 
Philadelphia, as associate editor of the "Political and Com- 
mercial Register," so long and favourably known under the 
conduct of the late Major Jackson. 

Not Hking the metropolis as well as he did the country, 
Mr. Miner soon retired to the pleasant town of Westchester, 
eighteen miles from Philadelphia, where, in connexion with 
his brother Asher, who had also removed from Wilkesbarre, 
he established the Village Record — a paper which became 



PREFACE. Vll 

as popular for its good taste, and the delicacy of its humour, 
as the Gleaner had been aforetime. Poor Robert here wrote 
again under the signature of " John Harwood." While a 
resident of Westchester, Mr. Miner was twice successively- 
elected to Congress, in a double district, as a colleague of the 
present Senator Buchanan. 

While in Congress Mr. Miner showed himself not only a 
useful, but an able member. In the subject of slavery he 
took a deep interest, labouring diligently in behalf of those 
rational measures for its melioration which were doing great 
good before a different feeling was infused into the minds of 
many benevolent men, and a different impulse imparted to 
their action on this subject. There is another act for 
which Mr. Miner deserves all praise. It was he who awa- 
kened the attention of the country to the silk-growing busi- 
ness. He drew and introduced the first resolution upon the 
subject, and wrote the able report which was introduced by 
the late General Stephen Van Rensselaer, as chairman of 
the committee on agriculture, to whom that resolution had 
been referred. 

It is now about eight years since Mr. Miner relinquished 
business in Westchester, and, with his brother, returned to 
Wyoming, where both have every promise of spending the 
evening of their days most happily. 

But to return from this digression : A farther illustration 
of the history of Wyoming having been determined on, the 
next question presented, was the manner in which it should 
be brought out. The idea occurred to me, when about to 
commence the composition of the historical portion of the 
present volume, six weeks ago, to prefix to the history, the 
poetry of Campbell — thus comprising, in a single portable 
volume, the Poetry and History of Wyoming. This sug- 
gestion was approved by Messrs. Wiley and Putnam, who 



Vlll PREFACE. 

are to be the publishers ; and in addition to all, Mr. Wash- 
ington Irving has kindly furnished a biographical sketch of 
the author of Gertrude. 

It is but justice to both publishers and printers to add, that 
neither pains nor expense have been spared to present the 
volume in a form that will reflect no discredit upon their 
respective branches of the art of book-making. The result 
of the experiment is before the reader. 

W. L. S. 

New-york, Dec. 25th, 1840. 



BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCH 



THOMAS CAMPBELL, 

BY 

WASHINGTON IRVING. 



It has long been admitted as a lamentable truth, that authors 
seldom receive impartial justice from the world, while living-. 
The grave seems to be the ordeal to which in a manner their 
names must be subjected, and from whence, if worthy of im- 
mortality, they rise with pure and imperishable lustre. Here 
many, who through the caprice of fashion, the influence of 
rank and fortune, or the panegyrics of friends, have enjoyed 
an undeserved notoriety, descend into oblivion, and it may 
literally be said "they rest from their labours, and their 
works do follow them." Here likewise many an ill-starred 
author, after struggling with penury and neglect, and starv- 
ing through a world he has enriched by his talents, sinks to 
rest, and becomes an object of universal admiration and re- 
gret. The sneers of the cynical, the detractions of the envi- 
ous, the scoffings of the ignorant, are silenced at the hallowed 
precincts of the tomb ; and the world awakens to a sense of 
his value, when he is removed beyond its patronage for ever. 
Monuments are erected to his memory, books are written in 



X BIOGKAPHICAL SKETCH 

his praise, and mankind will devour with avidity the biogra- 
phy of a man, whose life was passed unheeded befcTre their 
eyes. He is like some canonized saint, at whose shrine 
treasures are lavished and clouds of incense offered up, 
though while living the slow hand of charity withheld the 
pittance that would have relieved his necessities. 

But this tardiness in awarding merit its due, this prefer- 
ence continually shown to departed authors, over living ones 
of perhaps superior excellence, may be ascribed to more 
charitable motives than those of envy and ill-nature. Of the 
former we judge almost exclusively by their works. We 
form our opinion of the whole flow of their minds and the 
tenor of their dispositions from the volumes they have left 
behind ; without considering that these are like so many 
masterly portraits, presenting their genius in its most auspi- 
cious moments, and noblest attitudes, when its powers were 
collected by solitude and reflection, assisted by study, stimu- 
lated by ambition and elevated by inspiration. We witness 
nothing of the mental exhaustion and languor which follow 
these gushes of genius. We behold the stream only in the 
spring-tide of its current, and conclude that it has always 
been equally profound in its depth, pure in its wave, and ma- 
jestic in its course. 

Living authors, on the contrary, are continually in public 
view, and exposed to the full glare of scrutinizing familiarity. 
Though we may occasionally wonder at their eagle soarings, 
yet we soon behold them descend to our own level, and often 
sink below it. Their habits of seclusion make them less 
easy and engaging in society than the mere man of fashion, 
whose only study is to please. Their ignorance of the com- 
mon topics of the day, and of matters of business, frequently 
makes them inferior in conversation to men of ordinary ca- 
pacities, while the constitutional delicacy of their minds and 
irritability of their feelings, make them prone to more than 



OF THOMAS CAMPBELL. XI 

ordinary caprices. At one time solitary and unsocial, at an- 
other listless and petulant, often trifling among the frivolous, 
and not unfrequently the dullest among the dull. All these 
circumstances tend to diminish our respect and admiration of 
their mental excellence, and sliow clearly, that authors, like 
actors, to be impartially critized, should never be known be- 
hind the scenes. 

Such are a few of the causes that operate in Europe to de- 
fraud an author of the candid judgment of his countrymen, 
but their influence does not extend to this side of the Atlantic. 
We are placed, in some degree, in the situation of posterity. 
The vast ocean that rolls between us, like a space of time, 
removes us beyond the sphere of personal favour, personal 
prejudice, or personal familiarity. An European work, there- 
fore, appears before us depending simply on its intrinsic mer- 
its. We have no private friendship nor party purpose to 
serve by magnifying the author's merits, and in sober sadness 
the humble state of our national literature places us far be- 
low any feeling of national rivalship. 

But while our local situation thus enables us to exercise the 
enviable impartiality of posterity, it is evident we must share 
likewise in one of its disadvantages. We are in as complete 
ignorance respecting the biography of most living authors of 
celebrity, as though they had existed ages before our time, 
and indded are better informed concerning the character and 
lives of authors who have long since passed away, than of 
those who are actually adding to the stores of European 
literature. Few think of writing the anecdotes of a dis- 
tinguished character while living. His intimates, who of 
course are most capable, are prevented by their very inti- 
macy, little thinking that those domestic habits and peculiar- 
ities, which an every day's acquaintance has made so trite 
and familiar to themselves, can be objects of curiosity to all 
the world besides. Thus then we who are too distant to 



Xll BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCH 

gather those particulars concerning foreign authors, that are 
circulated from mouth to mouth in their native countries, 
must content ourselves to remain in almost utter ignorance ; 
unless perchance some friendly magazine now and then gives 
us a meagre and apocryphal account of them, which rather 
provokes than satisfies our curiosity. A proof of these asser- 
tions will be furnished in the following sketch, which, unsat- 
isfactory as it is, contains all the information we can collect, 
concerning a British poet of rare and exquisite endowments. 

Thomas Campbell was bom at Glasgow on the 27th Sep- 
tember, 1777. He was the youngest son of Mr. Alexander 
Campbell, a merchant of that city, highly spoken of for his 
amiable manners and unblemished integrity ; who united the 
scholar and the man of business, and amidst the engrossing 
cares and sordid pursuits of business, cherished an enthusias- 
tic love of literature. 

It may not be uninteresting to the American reader to 
know that Mr. Campbell, the poet, had near connexions in 
this country. His father passed several years of his youth 
at Falmouth, in Virginia, but returned to Europe before the 
revolutionary war. His uncle, who had accompanied his 
father across the Atlantic, remained in Virginia, where his 
family uniformly maintained a highly respectable station in 
society. One of his sons was district attorney under the ad- 
ministration of Washington, and was celebrated for his de- 
meanor. He died in 1795. Robert Campbell, a brother of 
the poet, settled in Virginia, where he married a daughter of 
the celebrated Patrick Henry. He died about 1807. 

The genius of Mr. Campbell showed itself almost in his 
infancy. At the age of seven he displayed a vivacity of im- 
agination and a vigour of mind surprising in such early youth. 
He now commenced the study of Latin under the care of the 
Rev. David Alison, a teacher of distinguished reputation. A 
strong inclination for poetry was already discernible in 



O*" THOMAS CAMPBELL. Xlll 

him, and it was not more than two years after this that, as 
we are told, " he began to try his wings." None of the first 
flutterings of his muse, however, have been preserved, but 
they had their effect in rendering him an object of favour 
and attention, aided no doubt by his personal beauty, his 
generous sensibility.^nd the gentleness and modesty of his 
deportment. At twelve he entered the university of Glasgow, 
and in the following year gained a bursary on Bishop Leigh- 
ton's foundation, for a translation of one of the comedies of 
Aristophanes, which he executed in verse. This triumph was 
the more honourablefrom being gained after a hard contest 
over a rival candidate of nearly twice his age, who was con- 
sidered one of the best scholars in the university. His second 
prize-exercise was the translation of a tragedy of vEschylus, 
likewise in verse, which he gained without opposition, as 
none of the students would enter the lists with him. He 
continued seven years in the university, during which time 
his talents and application were testified by yearly academical 
prizes. He was particularly successful in his translations 
from the Greek, in which language he took great delight ; 
and on receiving his last prize for one of these performances, 
the Greek professor publicly pronounced it the best that had 
ever been produced in the university. 

He made equal proficiency in other branches of study, 
especially in Moral Philosophy; he attended likewise the 
academical course of Law and Physic, but pursued none of 
these studies with a view to a profession. On the contrary, 
the literary passion, we are told, was already so strong with 
him, that he could not endure the idea of devoting himself to 
any of the dull and sordid pursuits of busy life. His father, 
influenced by his own love of litcratare, indulged those way- 
Ward fancies in his son, building fond hopes on his early dis- 
play of talent. At one time, it is true, a part of the family 
expressed a wish that he should be fitted for the Church, but 

B 



XIV BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCH 

this was overruled by the rest, and he was left without fur- 
ther opposition to the impulses of his genius, and the seduc- 
tions of the muse. 

After leaving the university he passed some time among 
the mountains of Argyleshire, at the seat of Colonel Napier, 
a descendant of Napier Baron Merchester, the celebrated in- 
ventor of logarithims. It is suggested that he may have im- 
bibed from this gentleman his taste and knowledge of the 
military arts, traces of which are to be seen throughout his 
poems. From Argyleshire he went to Edinburgh, where the 
reputation he had acquired at the university gained him a 
favourable reception into the literary and scientific circles of 
that intellectual city. Among others he was particularly 
noticed by professors Stewart and Playfair. To the ardour 
and elevation of mind awakened by such associates may we 
ascribe, in a great measure, the philosophical spirit and moral 
sublimity displayed in his first production, "The Pleasures 
of Hope," written during his residence in Edinburgh, when 
he was but twenty years of age. 

Inexperienced in authorship, and doubtful of success, he 
d!lsposed of the copy-right of his poem for an inconsiderable 
sum. It was received by the public with acclamation, and 
ran through two editions in the course of a few months, when 
his bookseller permitted him to publish a splendid edition for 
himself, by which means he was enabled in some measure, to 
participate in the golden harvest of his talent. liis great 
reward, however, was the bright and enduring reputation 
which he instantly acquired, as one of the legitimate line of 
British poets. 

The passion for German literature which prevailed at this 
time in Great Britain, awakened a desire in Mr. Campbell to 
study it at the fountain head. This, added to a curiosity to 
visit foreign parts, induced him to embark for Germany in 
the year 1800. He had originally fixed upon the college of 



OF THOMAS CAMPBELL. XV 

Jena for his first place of residence, but on arriving at Ham- 
burgh he found, by the public prints, that a victory had been 
gained by the French near Ulm, and that Munich and the 
heart of Bavaria were the theatre of an interesting war. 
" One moment's sensation," he observes in a letter to a rela- 
tion in this country, «' the single hope of seeing human na- 
ture exhibited in its most dreadful attitude, overturned my 
past decisions. 1 got down to the seat of war some weeks 
before the summer armistice of 1800, and indulged in what 
you will call the criminal curiosity of witnessing blood and 
desolation. Never shall time efface from my memory the 
recollection of that hour of astonishment and suspended breath, 
when I stood with the good monks of St. Jacob, to overlook a 
charge of Klenaw's cavalry upon the French under Grennier 
encamped below us. We saw the fire given and returned^ 
and heard distinctly the sound of the French pas de charge, 
collecting the lines to attack in close column. After three 
hours' awaiting the issue of a severe action, a park of artil- 
lery was opened just beneath the walls of the monastery, and 
several wagoners that were stationed to convey the wounded 
in spring wagons, were killed in our sight. My love of novel- 
ty now gave way to personal fears. I took a carriage in com- 
pany with an Austrian surgeon back to Landshut," &c. This 
awful spectacle he has described with all the poet's fire, in 
his Battle of Hohenlinden ; a poem which perhaps contains 
more grandeur and martial sublimity, than is to be found any 
where else in the same compass of English poetry. 

From Landshut Mr. Campbell proceeded to Ratisbon, where 
he was at the time it was taken possession of by the French 
and expected as an Englishman to be made prisoner, but he 
observes " Moreau's army was under such excellent discipline, 
and the behaviour both of officers and men so civil, that I soon 
mixed ' among them without hesitation, and formed many 
agreeable acquaintances at the messes of their brigade eta- 



XVI BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCH 

tioned in town, to which their chef de brigade often invited 
me. This worthy man, Colonel Le Fort, whose kindness 1 
shall ever remember with gratitude, gave me a protection to 
pass through the whole army of Moreau." 

After this he visited different parts of Germany, in the 
course of which he paid one of the casual taxes on travelling, 
being plundered among the Tyrolese mountains, by a scoun- 
drel Croat, of his clothes, his books, and thirty ducats in gold* 
About midwinter he returned to Hamburgh, where he re- 
mained four months, in the expectation of accompanying a 
young gentleman of Edinburgh in a tour to Constantinople. 
His unceasing thirst for knowledge, and his habits of indus- 
trious application, prevented these months from passing 
heavily or unprofitably. « My time at Hamburgh," he ob- 
serves, in one of his letters, " was chiefly employed in read- 
ing German, and, I am almost ashamed to confess it, for 
twelve successive weeks in the study of Kant's Philosophy. 
I had heard so much of it in Germany, its language was so 
new to me, and the possibility of its application to so many 
purposes in the different theories of science and belles-lettres 
was so constantly maintained, that I began to suspect Kant 
might be anotherBacon, and blamed myself for not perceiving 
his merit. Distrusting my own imperfect acquaintance with 
the German, I took a disciple of Kant's for a guide through 
his philosophy, but found, even with all this/air play, nothing 
to reward my labour. His metaphysics are mere innovations 
upon the received meaning of words, and the coinage of new 
ones convey no more instruction than the distinction of Dun 
Scotus and Thomas Aquinas. In belles-lettres, the German 
language opens a richer field than in their philosophy. I 
cannot conceive a more perfect poet than their favourite 
Wieland." 

While in Germany an edition of his Pleasures of Hope was 
proposed for publication in Vienna, but was forbidden by the 



OF THOMAS CAMPBELL. XVH 

court, in consequence of those passages which relate to Kos- 
ciusko, and the partition of Poland. Being disappointed in 
his projected visit to Constantinople, he returned to England 
in 1801, after nearly a year's absence, which had been passed 
much to his satisfaction and improvement, and had stored his 
mind with grand and awful images. " I remember," says he, 
*' how little I valued the art of painting before I got into the 
heart of such impressive scenes ; but in Germany, I would 
have given anything to have possessed an art capable of con- 
veying ideas inaccessible to speech and writing. Some par- 
ticular scenes were indeed rather overcharged with that de- 
gree of the terrific which oversteps the sublime, and I own 
my fiesh yet creeps at the recollection of spring wagons and 
hospitals — but the sight of Ingolstadt in ruins, or Hohenlin- 
den covered with fire, seven miles in circumference, were 
spectacles never to be forgotten." 

On returning to England, he visited London for the first 
time, where, though unprovided with a single letter of intro- 
duction, the celebrity of his writings procured him the imme- 
diate notice and attentions of the best society. The following 
brief sketch which he gives of a literary club in London, will 
be gratifying to those who have felt an interest in the anec- 
dotes of Addison and his knot of beaux esprits at Button's cof- 
fee house, and Johnson and his learned fraternity at the 
Turk's head. — " Mackintosh, the Vindiciae Gallicse was par- 
ticularly attentive to me, and took me with him to his conviv- 
ial parties at the King of Clubs, a place dedicated to the 
meetings of the reigning wits of London, and, in fact, a lineal 
descendant of the Johnson, Burke, and Goldsmith society, con- 
stituted for literary conversations. The dining table of these 
knights of literature was an arena of very keen conversational 
rivalship, maintained, to be sure, with perfect goodnature, but 
in which the gladiators contended as hardly as ever the 
French and Austrians in the scenes I had just witnessed. 



XVUl BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCH 

Much, however, as the wit and erudition of these men pleases 
an auditor at the first or second visit, this trial of minds be- 
comes at last fatiguing, because it is unnatural and unsatis- 
factory. Every one of these brilliants goes there to shine ; 
for conversational powers are so much the rage in London, 
that no reputation is higher than his who exhibits them. 
Where every one tries to instruct, there is in fact but little in- 
struction : wit, paradox, eccentricity, even absurdity, if deUv- 
ered rapidly and facetiously, takes priority in these societies 
of sound reasonings and delicate taste. I have watched 
sometimes the devious tide of conversation, guided by ac- 
cidental associations, turning from topic to topic and satis- 
factory upon none. What has one learned? has been my 
general question. The mind, it is true, is electrified and 
quickened, and the spirits finely exhilarated, but one grand 
fault pervades the whole institution ; their inquiries are 
desultory, and all improvements to be reaped must be acci- 
dental." 

The friendship of Mrs. Siddons was another acquisition, of 
which Mr. Campbell spoke with great pleasure ; and what 
rendered it more gratifying was its being unsought for. It 
was the means of introducing him to much excellent society 
in London. "The character of that great woman," he ob- 
serves, "is but little understood, and more misrepresented 
than any living character I know, by those who envy her rep- 
utation, or by those of the aristocracy^ whom her irresistible 
dignity obliges to pay their homage at a respectable distance. 
The reserve of her demeanour is banished toward those who 
show neither meanness in flattering her, nor forwardness in 
approaching her too familiarly. The friends of her fireside 
are only such as she talks to and talks o/with affection and 
respect. 

The recent visit of Mr. Campbell to the continent had 
increased rather than gratified his desire to travel. He now 



OF THOMAS CAMPBELL. xix 

contemplated another tour, for the purpose of improving him- 
self in the knowledge of foreign languages and foreign man- 
ners, in the course of which he intended to visit Italy and pass 
some time at Rome. From this plan he was diverted, most 
probably by an attachment he formed to a Miss Sinclair, a dis- 
tant relation, whom he married in 1803. This change in his 
situation naturally put an end to all his wandering propensi- 
ties, and he established himself at Sydenham in Kent, near 
London, where he devoted himself to literature. Not long 
afterward he received a solid and flattering token of the royal 
approbation of his poem of the Pleasures of Hope inapension 
of 200Z. What made this mark of royal favour the more grat- 
ifying was, that it was granted for no political services render- 
ed or expected. Mr. Campbell was not of the court party» 
but of the constitutional whigs. He has uniformly, both be- 
fore and since, been independent in his opinions and wTitings ; 
a sincere and enthusiastic lover of liberty, and advocate for 
popular rights. 

Though withdrawn from the busy world in his retirement 
at Sydenham, yet the genius of Mr. Campbell, like a true 
briUiant, occasionally flashed upon the public eye in a num- 
ber of exquisite little poems, which appeared occasionally in 
the periodical works of the da}'". Among these were Hohen- 
lenden and Lochiel, exquisite gems, sufficient of themselves 
to establish his title to the sacred name of poet : and the 
Mariners of England and the Battle of the Baltic, two of the 
noblest national songs ever written, fraught with sublime 
imagery and lofty sentiments, and delivered in a gallant swell- 
ing vein, that lifts the soul into heroics. 

In the beginning of 1809, he gave to the public his Ger- 
trude of Wyoming, connected with the fortunes of one of our 
little patriarchal villages on the banks of the Susquehanna, 
laid desolate by the Indians during our revolutionary war. 
There is no great scope in the story of tl;is poem, nor ?.ny very 



XX BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCH 

skilful development of the plan, but it contains passages of 
exquisite grace, and tenderness, and others of spirit and gran- 
deur ; and the character of Outalissi is a classic delineation 
of one of our native savages : — 

A stoic of tJie woods, a man without a tear. 

What gave this poem especial interest in our eyes at the time 
of its appearance, and awakened a strong feeling of good-will 
toward the author, was, that it related to our own country, 
and was calculated to give a classic charm to some of our own 
home scenery. The following remarks were elicited from us 
at the time, though the subsequent lapse of thirty years has 
improved the cogency of many of them. 

**We have so long been accustomed to experience little 
else than contumely, misrepresentation, and very witless rid- 
icule from the British press ; and we have had such repeated 
proofs of the extreme ignorance and absurd errors that pre- 
vail in Great BritEtin respecting our country and its inhabit- 
ants, that we confess, we were both surprised and gratified to 
meet with a poet, sufficiently unprejudiced to conceive an idea 
of moral excellence and natural beauty on this side of the 
Atlantic. Indeed even this simple show of liberality has 
drawn on the poet the censures and revilings of a host of 
narrowrainded writers, with whom liberality to this country is 
a crime. We are sorry to see such pitiful manifestations of 
hostility towards us. Indeed we must say, that we consider 
the constant acrimony and traduction indulged in by the Brit- 
ish press, toward this country, to be as opposite to the inter- 
est as it is derogatory to the candour and magnanimity of the 
nation. It is operating to widen the difference between two 
nations, which, if left to the impulse of their own feelings, 
would naturally grow together, and among the sad changes 
of this disastrous world, be mutual supports and comforts to 
each other. 

"Whatever may be the occasional collisions of etiquette 



OF THOMAS CAMPBELL. XXI 

and interest which will inevitably take place between two 
great commercial nations, whose property and people are 
spread far and wide on the face of the ocean ; whatever may 
be the clamorous expressions of hostility vented at such times 
by our unreflecting populace, or rather uttered in their name 
by a host of hireling scriblers, who pretend to speak the sen- 
timents of the people ; it is certain, that the well educated 
and well informed class of our citizens entertain a deep root- 
ed good-will, and a rational esteem for Great Britain. It is 
almost impossible it should be otherwise. Independent of 
those hereditary affections, which spring up spontaneously 
for the nation from whence we have descended, the single 
circumstance of imbibing our ideas from the same authors, 
has a powerful effect in causing an attachment. 

" The writers of Great Britain are the adopted citizens of 
our country, and, though they have no legislative voice, ex- 
ercise a powerful influence over our opinions and affections. 
In these works we have British valor, British magnanimity, 
British might, and British wisdom continually before our 
eyes, portrayed in the most captivating colors, and are thus 
brought up, in constant contemplation of all that is amiable 
and illustrious in the British character. To these works like- 
wise we resort, in every varying mood of mind, or vicissitude 
of fortune. They are our delight in the hour of relaxation ; 
the solemn monitors and instructors of our closet ; our com- 
forters under the gloom of despondency. In the season of 
early life, in the strength of manhood, and still in the 
weakness and apathy of age, it is to them we are indebted 
for our hours of refined and unalloyed enjoyment. When we 
turn our eyes to England, therefore, from whence this boun- 
teous tide of literature pours in upon us, it is with such feel- 
ings as the Egyptian, when he looks towards the sacred 
source of that stream, which, rising in a far distant country, 



XXll BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCH 

flows down upon his own barren soil, diffusing riches, beaut}% 
and fertility. 

" Surely it cannot be the interest of Great Britain to trifie 
with such feelings. Surely the good-will, thus cherished 
among the best hearts of a country, rapidly increasing in 
power and importance, is of too much consequence to be 
scornfully neglected or surlily dashed away. It most cer- 
tainly therefore would be both politic and honorable, for 
those enlightened British writers, who sway the sceptre of 
criticism, to expose these constant misrepresentations and 
discountenance these galling and unworthy insults of the 
pen, whose effect is to mislead and to irritate, without serv- 
ing one valuable purpose. They engender gross prejudices 
in Great Britain, inimical to a proper national understanding, 
while with us they wither all those feelings of kindness and 
consanguinity, that were shooting forth, like so many tendrils, 
to attach us to our parent country. 

" While therefore we regard the poem of Mr. Campbell 
with complacency, as evincing an opposite spirit to this, of 
which we have just complained, there are other reasons like- 
wise, which interest us in its favour. Among the lesser evils, 
incident to the infant state of our country, we have to lament 
its almost total deficiency in those local associations produced 
by history and moral fiction. These may appear trivial to 
the common mass of readers ; but the mind of taste and sensi- 
bility will at once acknowledge it, as constituting a great 
source of national pride, and love of country. There is an 
inexpressible charm imparted to every place, that has been 
celebrated by the historian, or immortalized by the poet ; a 
charm that dignifies it in the eyes of the stranger, and endears 
it to the heart of the native inhabitant. Of this romantic at- 
traction we are almost entirely destitute. While every insig 
nificant hill and turbid stream in classic Europe has been 



OF THOMAS CAMPBELL. XXIU 

hallowed by the visitations of the muse, and contemplated 
with fond enthusiasm ; our lofty mountains and stupendous 
cataracts excite no poetical feelings, and our majestic rivers 
roll their waters unheeded, because unsung", 

"Thus circumstanced, the sweet strains of Mr. Campbell's 
muse break upon us as gladly as would the pastoral pipe of 
the shepherd, amid the savage solitude of one of our trackless 
wildernesses. We are delighted to witness the air of capti- 
vating romance, and rural beauty our native fields and wild 
woods can assume under the plastic pencil of a master ; and 
while wandering with the poet among the shady groves of 
Wyoming, or along the banks of the Susquehanna, almost 
fancy ourselves transported to the side of some classic stream, 
in the «• hollow breast of x\ppenine." This may assist to con- 
vince many, who were before slow to believe, that our own 
country is capable of inspiring the highest poetic feelings and 
furnishing abundance of poetic imagery, though destitute of 
the hackneyed materials of poetry ; though its groves are not 
vocal with the song of the nightingale ; though no naiads 
have ever sported in its streams, nor satyrs and driads gam- 
boled among its forests. Wherever nature displays herself 
in simple beauty or wild magnificence, and wherever tlie hu- 
man mind appears in new and striking situations, neither the 
poet nor the philosopher can want subjects worthy of his 
genius." 

As we before remarked, the lapse of thirty years has mate- 
rially impaired the cogency of the foregoing remarks. The 
acrimony and traduction of the British press produced the 
effect apprehended, and contributed to hasten a war between 
the two nations. That war, however, made us completely a 
nation, and destroyed our mental dependence on England 
forever. A literature of our own has subsequently sprung 
up and is daily increasing with wonderful fecundity ; pro- 
mising to counteract the undue influence of British literature. 



XXIV BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCH OF THOMAS CAMPBELL. 

and to furnish us with productions in all departments of 
taste and knowledge, illustrative of our country, its history 
and its people, and in harmony with our condition and the 
nature of our institutions. 

We have but a word or two to add concerning Mr. Camp- 
bell. In 1810 he published " O'Connor's Child, or Love lies 
Bleeding," an uncommonly spirited and affecting little tale. 
Since then he has given at intervals a variety of minor poems 
to the public, all possessing the same beauty of thought and 
delicacy of finish that distinguished his early productions. If 
some disappointment has been experienced by his admirers, 
that he has afTected any of those grand achievements in poetry 
which had been anticipated from his juvenile performances, 
they should congratulate himself that he has never sank from 
the pure and elevated height to which he so suddenly attain- 
ed. Many years since we hailed the productions of his muse 
as "beaming forth like the pure lights of heaven, among the 
meteor exhalations and paler fires with which our literary 
atmosphere abounds ;" since that time many of those meteors 
and paler fires that dazzled and bewildered the public eye, 
have fallen to the earth and passed away, and still we find 
his poems like the stars shining on, with undiminished lustre. 



GERTRUDE OF WYOxMING, 



PART I. 



/^ lo±> 3^ 



ADVERTISEMENT. 

Most of the popular histories of England, as well as of 
the American war, give an authentic account of the desola- 
tion of Wyoming, in Pennsylvania, which took place in 1778, 
by an incursion of the Indians. The scenery and incidents of 
the following Poem are connected with that event. The tes- 
timonies of historians and travellers concur in describing the 
infant colony as one of the happiest spots of human existence, 
for the hospitable and innocent manners of the inhabitants, 
the beauty of the country, and the luxuriant fertility of the 
soil and climate. In an evil hour, the junction of European 
with Indian arms converted this terrestrial paradise into a 
frightful waste. Mr. Isaac Weld informs us that the ruins 
of many of the villages, perforated with balls, and bearing 
marks of conflagration, were still preser\'ed by the recent in- 
habitants, when he travelled through America, in 1796.. 



GERTRUDE OF WYOMING. 



PARTL 



I. 

On Siisquehannah's side, fair Wyoming ! 
Although the wild-fiower on thy ruin'd wall 
And roofless homes, a sad remembrance bring 
Of what thy gentle people did befall : 
Yet thou wort once the loveliest land of all 
That see the Atlantic wave their morn restore. 
Sweet land ! may I thy lost deliglits recall, 
And paint thy Gertrude in her bowers of yore, 
Whose beauty was the love of Pennsylvania's 
shore ! 

II. 

Delightful Wyoming ! beneath thy skies, 
The happy shepherd swains had nought to do 
But feed their flocks on green declivities. 
Or skim perchance thy lake with light canoe, 
From morn till evening's sweeter pastime grew, 
With timbrel, when beneath the forests brown, 
Thy lovely maidens would the dance renew ; 



4 GERTRUDE OF WYOMING. 

And aye those sunny mountains half-way down 
Would echo flagelet from some romantic town. 

III. 
Then, where of Indian hills the daylight takes 
His leave, how might you the flamingo see 
Disporting like a meteor on the lakes — 
And playful squirrel on his nut-grown tree : 
And every sound of life was full of glee, 
From merry mock-bird's song, or hum of men ; 
While hearkening, fearing nought their revelry, 
The wild deer arch'd his neck from glades, and 

then 
Unhunted, sought his woods and wilderness again. 

IV. 

And scarce had Wyoming of war or crime 
Heard, but in Transatlantic story rung. 
For here the exile met from every clime. 
And spoke in friendship every distant tongue : 
Men from the blood of warring Europe sprung, 
Were but divided by the running brook ; 
And happy where no Rhenish trumpet sung, 
On plains no sieging mine's volcano shook, 
The blue-eyed German changed his sword to pru- 
ning-hook. 

v. 

Nor far some Andalusian saraband 

Would sound to many a native roundelay — 



^ 







GERTRUDE OF WYOMING. 6 

But who is he that yet a dearer land 
Remembers, over hills and far away 7 
Green Albin !* what though he no more survey 
Thy ships at anchor on the quiet shore, 
Thy pellochsf rolling from the mountain bay. 
Thy lone sepulchral cairn upon the moor, 
And distant isles that hear the loud Corbrechtan 
roar ! J 

VI. 

Alas ! poor Caledonia's mountaineer, 
That want's stern edict e'er, and feudal grief, 
Had forced him from a home he loved so dear ! 
Yet found he here a home, and glad relief, 
And plied the beverage from his own fair sheaf, 
That fired his Highland blood with mickle glee : 
And England sent her men, of men the chief, 
Who taught those sires of Empire yet to be, 
To plant the tree of life, — to plant fair Freedom's 
tree ! 

VII. 

Here were not mingled in the city's pomp 
Of life's extremes the grandeur and the gloom ; 
Judgment awoke not here her dismal tromp. 
Nor seal'd in blood a fellow-creature's doom, 

* Scotland. 

tThc Gaelic appt-llation for the i)orpoise. 

J The great wliirlpool of the VVostcrn Hebrides. 

1* 



b GERTRUDE OF WYOMING. 

Nor mourn'd the captive in a living tomb. 
One venerable man, beloved of all, 
Sufficed, where innocence was yet in bloom, 
To sway the strife that seldom might befall: 
And Albert was their judge in patriarchal hall. 

VIII. 

How reverend was the look, serenely aged, 
He bore, this gentle Pennsylvanian sire, 
Where all but kindly fervours were assuaged, 
Undimm'd by weakness' shade, or turbid ire ! 
And though, amidst the calm of thought entire. 
Some high and haughty features might betray 
A soul impetuous once, 'twas earthly fire 
That fled composure's intellectual ray, 
As iEtna's fires grow dim before the rising day. 

IX. 

I boast no song in magic wonders rife. 
But yet, oh Nature ! is there nought to prize, 
Familiar in thy bosom scenes of life ? 
And dwells in daylight truth's salubrious skies 
No form with which the soul may sympathize ? 
Young, innocent, on whose sweet forehead mild 
The parted ringlet shone in simplest guise. 
An inmate in the home of Albert smiled, 
Or blessed his noon-day walk — she was his only 
child. 



GERTRUDE OF WYOMING. 7 

X. 

The rose of England bloom'd on Gertmde*s 

cheek — 
What though these shades had seen her birth, her 

sire 
A Briton's independence taught to seek 
Far western worlds ; and there his household fire 
The light of social love did long inspire. 
And many a halcyon day he lived to see 
Unbroken but by one misfortune dire, 
When fate had 'reft his mutual heart — but she 
Was gone — and Gertrude climb'd a widow'd fa- 
ther's knee. 

XI. 

A loved bequest, — and I may half impart, 

To them that feel the strong paternal tie, 

How like a new existence to his heart 

That living flower uprose beneath his eye, 

Dear as she was from cherub infancy. 

From hours when she would round his garden 

play. 
To time when as the ripening years went by, 
Her lovely mind could culture well repay, 
And more engaging grew, from pleasing day to day. 

XII. 

I may not paint those thousand infant charms ; 
(Unconscious fascination, undesigned !) 



8 



GERTRUDE OF WYOMING. 



The orison repeated in his arms, 
For God to bless her sire and all mankind ; 
The book, the bosom on his knee reclined, 
Or how sweet fairy-lore he heard her con, 
(The playmate ere the teacher of her mind :) 
All nncompanion'd else her heart had gone 
Till now, in Gertrude's eyes, their ninth blue sum- 
mer shone. 

XIII. 

And summer was the tide, and sweet the hour, 
When sire and daughter saw, with fleet descent, 
An Indian from his bark approach their bower, 
Of buskin'd limb, and swarthy lineament ; 
The red wild feathers on his brow were blent. 
And bracelets bound the arm that help'd to light 
A boy, who seem'd, as he beside him went. 
Of Christian vesture, and complexion bright. 
Led by his dusky guide, like morning brought by 
night. 

XIV. 

Yet pensive seem'd the boy for one so young — 
The dimple from his polish'd cheek had fled ; 
When, leaning on his forest-bow unstrung, 
Th' Oneida warrior to the planter said, 
And laid his hand upon the stripling's head, 
" Peace be to thee ! my words this belt approve ; 
The paths of peace my steps have hither led : 



^^: 




GERTRUDE OF WYOMING?. Vl 

This little nursling, take him to thy love, 
And shield the bird unfledged, since gone the pa- 
rent dove. 

XV. 

" Christian ! I am the foeman of thy foe ; 
Our wampum league thy brethren did embrace : 
Upon the Michigan, three moons ago. 
We launch'd our pirogues for the bison chase, 
And with the Hurons planted for a space. 
With true and faithful hands, the olive stalk ; 
But snakes are in the bosoms of their race, 
And though they held with us a friendly talk, 
The hollow peace-tree fell beneath their toma- 
kawk ! 

XVI. 

'• It was encamping on the lake's far port, 
A cry of Areouski* broke our sleep, 
Where storm'd an ambush'd foe thy nation's fort, 
And rapid, rapid whoops came o'er the deep ; 
But long thy country's war-sign on the steep 
Appear'd through ghastly intervals of light. 
And deathfully their thunder seem'd to sweep, 
Till utter darkness swallow'd up the sight, 
As if a shower of blood had quench'd the fiery 
fight! 

*The Indian God of War. 



10 (Gertrude of Wyoming. 

XVII. 

" It slept — it rose again — on hig-h their tower 
Sprang upward like a torch to light the skies. 
Then down again it rain'd an ember shower, 
And louder lamentations heard we rise ; 
As when the evil Manitou* that dries 
Th' Ohio woods, consumes them in his ire, 
In vain the desolated panther flies. 
And howls amidst his wilderness of fire : 
Alas ! too late, we reach'd and smote those Hurons 
dire ! 

XVIII. 

" But as the fox beneath the nobler hound, 
So died their warriors by our battle brand : 
And from the tree we, with her child, unbound 
A lonely mother of the Christian land : — 
Her lord — the captain of the British band — 
Amidst the slaughter of his soldiers lay. 
Scarce knew the widow our delivering hand ; 
Upon her child she sobb'd, and swoon'd away, 
Orshriek'd unto the God to whom the Christians 
pray. 

XIX. 

"Our virgins fed her with their kindly bowls 
Of fever-balm and sweet sagamite : 
But she was journeying to the land of souls. 
And lifted up her dying head to pray 

* Manitou, Spirit or Deity. 



GERTRUDE OF WYOMING. 11 

That we should bid an ancient friend convey 
Her orphan to his liome of England's shore ; — 
And take, she said, this token far away, 
To one that will remember us of yore, 
When he beholds the ring that Waldegrave's Ju- 
lia wore. 



XX. 

" And I, the eagle of my tribe,* have rush'd 
With this lorn dove." — A sage's self-command 
Had quel I'd the tears from Albert's heart that 

gush'd ; 
But yet his cheek — his agitated hand — 
That shower'd upon the stranger of the land 
No common boon, in grief but ill-beguiled 
A soul that was not wont to be unmann'd ; 
" And stay," he cried, " dear pilgrim of the wild, 
Preserver of my old, my boon companion's 

child ! — 

XXI. 

'' Child of a race whose name my bosom warms, 
On earth's remotest bounds how welcome here ! 
Whose mother oft, a child, has fill'd these arms, 
Young as thyself, and innocently dear, 

♦The Indians are distinguished, both personally and by tribes, by the 
name of particular animals, whose qualities they affect to resemble, either 
for cunning, strength, swiftness, or other qualities -. — as the eagle, the serpent, 
the fox, or bear. 



12 GERTRUDE OF WYOMING. 

Whose gmndsire was my early life's compeer. 
Ah, happiest home of Eno^land's happy clime ! 
How beautiful e'en now thy scenes appear, 
As in the noon and sunshine of my prime ! 
How gone like yesterday these thrice ten years of 
time ! 

XXII. 

"And, Julia! when thou wert like Gertrude 

now. 
Can I forget thee, favourite child of yore ? 
Or thought I, in thy father's house, when thou 
Wert lightest hearted on his festive floor, 
And first of all his hospitable door 
To meet and kiss me at my journey's end ? 
But where was I when Waldegrave was no more? 
And thou did'st pale thy gentle head extend 
In woes, that e'en the tribe of deserts was thy 

friend !" 

XXIII. 

He said — and strain'd unto liis heart the boy : — 

Far differently, the mute Oneida took 

His calumet of peace, and cup of joy •* 

As monumental bronze unchanged his look; 

A soul that pity touch'd, but never shook ; 

* Calumet of peace. — The calumet is the Indian name for the orna- 
mental pipe of friendship, which they smoko as a pledge of amity. 



GERTRUDE OF WYOMING. 13 

Train'd from his tree-rock'd cradle* to his bier 
The fierce extremes of good and ill to brook 
Impassive — fearing but the shame of fear — 
A stoic of the woods — a man without a tear. 

XXIV. 

Yet deem not goodness on the savage stock 
Of Outalissi's heart disdain'd to grow ; 
As lives the oak nnwither'd on the rock 
By storms above, and barrenness below ; 
He scorn'd his own, who felt another's wo ; 
And ere the wolf-skin on his back he flung. 
Or laced his moccasins, in act to go, 
A song of parting to the boy he sung. 
Who slept on Albert's couch, nor heard his friend- 
ly tongue. 

XXV. 

" Sleep, wearied one ! and in the dreaming land 
Shouldst thou to-morrow with thy mother meet, 
Oh ! tell her spirit, that the white man's hand 
Hath pluck'd the thorns of sorrow from thy feet ; 
While I in lonely wilderness shall greet 
Thy little footprints — or by traces know 
The fountain, where at noon I thought it sweet 

* Tree-rock'd cradle. — The Indian mothers suspend their children in 
their cradles from the boughs of trees, and let them be rocked by the 
wind. 



14 GERTRUDF. OF WYOMING. 

To feed thee vvith the quarry of my bow. 
And pour'd the lotus-horn,* or slew the mountain 
roe. 

XXVI. 

" Adieu ! sweet scion of the rising sun ! 

But should affliction's storms thy blossom mock, 

Then come again — my own adopted one ! 

And I will orraft thee on a noble stock : 

The crocodile, the condor of the rock, 

Shall be the pastime of thy sylvan wars ; 

And I will teach thee, in the battle's shock, 

To pay with Huron blood thy father's scars, 

And gratulate his soul rejoicing in the stars !" 

XXVII. 

So finish'd he the rhyme (howe'er uncouth) 
That true to nature's fervid feelings ran ; 
(And song is but the eloquence of truth :) 
Then forth uprose that lone wayfaring man ; 
But dauntless he, nor chart, nor journey's plan 
In woods required, whose trained eye was keen 
As eagle of the wilderness, to scan 
His path, by mountain, swamp, or deep ravine, 
Or ken far friendly huts on good savannas green. 

* From a flower shaped like a horn, which Chateaubriand presumes to be 
of the lotus kind, the Indians in their travels through the desert often find a 
draught of dew purer than any other water. 



GERTRUDE OF WYOMING. 15 

XXVIII. 

Old Albort saw him from the valley's side — 
His pirogue launch'd — his pilgrimage begun — 
Far, like the red-bird's wing he seem'd to glide ; 
Then dived, and vanished in the woodlands dun. 
Oft, to that spot by tender memory won, 
Would Albert climb the promontory's height, 
If but a dim sail glimmer'd in the sun ; 
Rut never more, to bless his longing sicrht. 
Was Outalis^i hail'd, with bark nnd plnmage 
briofht. 



GERTRUDE OF WYOMING. 



PART II. 



GERTRUDE OF WYOMING. 



PART II. 



A VALLEY from the river-shore withdrawn 
Was Albert's home, two quiet woods between, 
Whose lofty verdure overlook'd his lawn ; 
And waters to their resting-place serene 
Came freshening, and reflecting all the scene, 
(A mirror in the depth of flowery shelves ;) 
So sweet a spot of earth, you might (I. ween) 
Have guess'd some congregation of the elves, 
To sport by summer moons, had shaped it for 
themselves. 

II. 

Yet wanted not the eye far scope to muse, 
Nor vistas open'd by the wandering stream; 
Both where at evening Allegany views, 
Through ridges burning in her western bcim, |^ 
Lake after lake interminably gleam : 
And past those settler's haunts the eye might roam 
Where earth's unliving silence all would seem ; 



20 GERTRUDE OF WYOMING. 

Save where on rocks the beaver built his dome, 
Or buffalo remote low'd far from human home. 

III. 

But silent not that adverse eastern path, 
Which saw Aurora's hills th' horizon crown ; 
There was the river heard, in bed of wrath, 
(A precipice of foam from mountains brown,) 
Like tumults heard from some far distant town ; 
But softening in approach he left his gloom, 
And murmur'd pleasantly, and laid him down 
To kiss those easy curving banks of bloom, 
That lent the windward air an exquisite perfume. 

IV. 

It seem'd as if those scenes sweet influence had 
On Gertrude's soul, and kindness like their own 
Inspii'ed those eyes affectionate and glad. 
That seem'd to love whate'er they look'd upon ; 
Whether with Hebe's mirth her features shone, 
Or if a shade more pleasing them o'ercast, 
(As if for heavenly musing meant alone,) 
Yet so becomingly th' expression past, 
That each succeeding look was lovelier than the 
last. 

v. 

Nor guess I, was that Pennsylvanian home, 
With all its picturesque and balmy grace, 



GERTRUDE OF "WYOMING. 21 

And fields that were a luxury to roam, 

Lost on the soul that look'd from such a face ! 

Enthusiast of the woods ! when years apace 

Had bound thy lovely waist with woman's zone, 

The sunrise path, at morn, I see thee trace 

To hills with hio^h magnolia overgrown, 

And joy to breathe the groves, romantic and alone. 

VI. 

The sunrise drew her thoughts to Europe forth, 

That thus apostrophized its viewless scene : 

<' Land of my father's love, my mother's birth ! 

The home of kindred I have never seen ! 

We know not other — oceans are between : 

Yet say ! far friendly hearts, from whence we came, 

Of us does oft remembrance intervene? 

My mother sure — my sire a thought may claim ; 

But Gertrude is to you an unregarded name. 

VII. 

" And yet, loved England ! when thy name I trace 
In many a pilgrim's tale and poet's song, 
How can I choose but wish for one embrace 
Of them, the dear unknown, to whom belong 
My mother's looks, — perhaps her likeness strong? 
Oh, parent ! with what reverential awe, 
From features of thine own related throng. 
An image of thy face my soul could draw ! 
And see thee once again whom I too shortly saw!" 



22 GERTRUDE OF WYOMING. 

VIII. 

Yet deem not Gertrude sigh'd for foreign joy ; 
To soothe a father's couch, her only care, 
And keep his reverend head from all annoy : 
For this, methinks her homeward steps repair, 
Soon as the mornins^ wreath had bound her hair ; 
While yet the wild deer trod in spangling dew, 
While boatmen caroU'd to the fresh-blown air, 
And woods a horizontal shadow threw. 
An early fox appeared in momentary view. 

IX. 

Apart there was a deep untrodden grot, 
Where oft the reading hours sweet Gertrude wore ; 
Tradition had not named its lonely spot ; 
But here (methinks) might India's sons explore 
Their father's dust,* or lift perchance of yore, 
Their voice to the great Spirit: — rocks sublime 
To human art a sportive semblance bore, 
And yellow lichens colour'd all the clime. 
Like moonlight battlements, and towers decay'd 
by time. 



But high in amphitheatre above, 

Gay tinted woods their massy foliage threw : 

* It is a custom of tlic Indiiin tribes to visit tlie tombs of their ancestors 
in the cultivated parts of America, who liavc been buried for ui>\vnrds of a 
century. 



V' 



•1- 




i^^. 


■ i^'.' '''-^'•^ 


P ' ^ W- 


^' "'l 







GERTRUDE OF WYOMING. 23 

Breathed but an air of heaven, and all the grove 
As if instinct with livinor spirit grew, 
Rolling its verdant gulfs of every hue ; 
And now suspended was the pleasing din, 
Now from a murmur faint it swell'd anew, 
Like the first note of organ heard within 
Cathedral aisles, — ere yet its symphony begin. 



XI. 

It was in this lone valley she would charm 
The lingering noon, where flowers a couch had 

strewn ; 
Her cheek reclining, and her snowy arm 
On hillock by the palm-tree half o'ergrown : 
And aye that volume on her lap is thrown, 
Which every heart of human mould endears; 
With Shakspeare's self she speaks and smiles 

alone, 
And no intruding visitation fears. 
To shame the unconscious laugh, or stop her 

sweetest tears. 

XII. 

And nought within the grove was seen or heard 
But stock-doves plaining through its gloom pro- 
found. 
Or winglet of the fairy humming-bird, 
Like atoms of the rainbow fluttering round ; 
When, lo ! there enter'd to its inmost ground 



24 GERTRUDE OF WYOMING. 

A youth, the stranger of a distant land ; 
He was, to weet, for eastern mountains bound ; 
But late th' equator suns his cheek had tann'd, 
And California's gales his roving bosom fann'd. 

XIII. 

A steed, whose rein hung loosely o'er his arm, 
He led dismounted ; ere his leisure pace. 
Amid the brown leaves, could her ear alarm, 
Close he had come, and worshipp'd for a space 
Those downcast features: — she her lovely face 
Uplift on one, whose lineaments and frame 
Wore youth and manhood's intermingled grace ; 
Iberian seem'd his boot — his robe the same. 
And well the Spanish plume his lofty looks be- 
came. 

XIV. 

For Albert's home he sought — her finger fair 
Has pointed where the father's mansion stood. 
Returning from the copse, he soon was there : 
And soon has Gertrude hied from dark greenwood ; 
Nor joyless, by the converse^ understood 
Between the man of age and pilgrim young. 
That gay congeniality of mood, 
And early liking from acquaintance sprung; 
Full fluently conversed their guest in England's 
tongue. 



GERTRUDE OF WYOMING. 25 

XV. 

And well could he his pilgrimage of taste 

Unfold, — and much they loved his fervid strain, 

While he each fair variety retraced 

Of climes, and manners, o'er the eastern main. 

Now happy Switzer's hills, — romantic Spain, — 

Gay lilied fields of France, — or, more refined, 

The soft Ausonia's monumental reign ; 

Nor less each rural image he designed 

Than all the city's pomp and home of human kind. 

XVI. 

Anon some wilder portraiture he draws ; 
Of Nature's savage glories he would speak, — 
The loneliness of earth that overawes, — 
Where, resting by some tomb of old cacique. 
The lama-driver on Peruvia's peak 
Nor living voice nor motion marks around ; 
But storks that to the boundless forest shriek, 
Or wild-cane arch high flung o'er gulf profound,* 
That fluctuates when the storms of El Dorado 
sound. 

XVII. 

Pleased with his guest, the good man still would 

ply 
Each earnest question, and his converse court; 

♦The bridges over narrow streams in mnny parts of Spanish America are 
said to be built of «anc, which, however strong to support the passenger, aro 



26 GERTRUDE OF AVYOMING. 

But Gertrude, as she eyed him, knew not why 
A strange and troubling wonder stopt her short. 
" In England thou hast been, — and, by report, 
An orphan's name (quoth Albert) may'st have 

known. 
Sad tale ! — when latest fell our frontier fort, — 
One innocent — one soldier's child — alone 
Was spared, and brought to me, who loved him 

as my own. — 

XVITI. 

"Young Henry Waldegrave ! three delightful years 
These very walls his influit sports did see : 
Bat most 1 loved him when his parting tears 
Alternately bedew'd my child and me : 
His sorest parting, Gertrude, was from thee ; 
Nor half its grief his little heart could hold ; 
By kindred he was sent for o'er the sea. 
They tore him from us when but twelve years old. 
And scarcely for his loss have I been yet con- 
soled !" 

XIX. 

His face the wanderer hid — but could not hide 
A tear, a smile, upon his cheek that dwell ; — 
"And speak! mysterious stranger!" (Gertrude 
cried) 

yet waved in the ngitation of thn storm, affd frequently add to the eftcct of 
a mountainous and picturesque scenery. 



GERTRUDE OF AVYOMING. 27 

" It is ! — it is ! — 1 knew — I knew him well ! 
'Tis Waldcgrave's self, of Waldegrave come to 

tell !" 
A burst of joy the father's lips declare, 
But Gertrude speecliless on his bosom fell ; 
At once his open arms embraced the pair. 
Was never group more blest, in this wide world 

of care. 

XX. 

" And will ye pardon then (replied the youth) 
Your Waldegrave's feigned name, and false attire? 
I durst not in the neighbourhood, in truth, 
The very fortunes of your house inquire. 
Lest one that knew me might some tidings dire 
Impart, and I my weakness all betray ; 
For had I lost my Gertrude and my sire, 
I meant but o'er your tombs to weep a day. 
Unknown I meant to weep, unknown to pass away. 

XXI. 

" But here ye live, — ye bloom, — in each dear 

face, 
The changing hand of time I may not blame ; 
For there, it hath but shed more reverend grace. 
And here, of beauty perfected the frame : 
And well I know your hearts are still the same — 
They could not change — ye look the very way 
As when an orphan first to you I came. 



28 



GERTRUDE OF WYOMING. 



And have ye heard of my poor guide, I pray ? 
Nay, wherefore weep ye, friends, on such a joy- 
ous day ?" 

XXII. 

" And art thou here ? or is it but a dream ? 
And wilt thou, Waldegrave, wilt thou, leave us 

more ?" — 
"No, never ! thou that yet dost lovelier seem 
Than aught on earth — than e'en thyself of yore — 
I will not part thee from thy father's shore ; 
But we will cherish him with mutual arms. 
And hand in hand again the path explore. 
Which every ray of young remembrance warms, 
While thou shalt be my own, with all thy truth 

and charms !" 

XXIII. 

At morn, as if beneath a galaxy 
Of overarching groves in blossoms white. 
Where all was odorous scent and harmony, 
And gladness to the heart, nerve, ear, and sight : 
There, if, oh, gentle Love ! I read aright 
The utterance that seal'd thy sacred bond, 
'Twas listening to these accents of delight, 
She hid upon his breast those eyes, beyond 
Expression's power to paint, all languishingly 
fond. 



L^ 










GERTRUDE OF WYOMING. 29 

XXIV. 

" Flower of my life, so lovely, and so lone ! 
Whom I would rather in this desert meet. 
Scorning, and scorn'd by fortune's power, than 

own 
Her pomp and splendours lavish'd at my feet ! 
Turn not from me thy breath, more exquisite 
Than odours cast on heaven's own shrine — to 

please — 
Give me thy love, than luxury more sweet, 
And more than all the wealth that loads the breeze, 
When Coromandel's ships return from Indian 



XXV. 

Then would that home admit them — happier far 

Than grandeur's most magnificent saloon. 

While, here and there, a solitary star 

Flush'd in the darkening firmament of June, 

And silence brought the soul-felt hour, full soon, 

Inefi^ible, which I may not portray ; 

For never did the hymenean moon 

A paradise of hearts more sacred sway. 

In all that slept beneath her soft voluptuous ray. 



3* 



GERTRUDE OF WYOMLNG. 



PART III. 



GERTRUDE OF WYOMING. 



PART III. 



O Love ! in such a wilderness as this, 
Where transport and security entwine, 
Here is the empire of thy perfect bUss, 
And here thou art a god indeed divine. 
Here shall no forms abridge, no hours confine 
The views, the walks, that boundless joy inspire ! 
Roll on, ye days of raptured influence, shine ! 
Nor, blind with ecstasy's celestial fire, 
Shall love behold the spark of earth-born time 
expire. 

II. 

Three little moons, how short ! amidst the grove 

And pastoral savannas they consume ! 

While she, beside her buskin'd youth to rove, 

Delights, in fancifully wild costume, 

Her lovely brow to shade with Indian plume ; 

And forth in hunter-seeming vest they fare ; 

But not to chase the deer in forest gloom ; 



34 GERTRUDE OF WYOMING. 

'Tis but the breath of heaven — the blessed air — 
And interchange of hearts, unknown, unseen to 
share. 

III. 
What though the sportive dog oft round them 

note, 
Or fawn, or wild bird bursting on the wing ; 
Yet who, in love's own presence, would devote 
To death those gentle throats that wake the spring, 
Or writhing from the brook its victim bring? 
No ! — nor let fear one little warbler rouse ; 
Bat, fed by Gertrude's hand, still let them sing, 
x4cquaintance of her path, amidst the boughs, 
Tiiat shade e'en now her love, and witness'd first 

her vow^s. 

IV. 

Now labyrinths, which but themselves can pierce, 
Methinks, conduct them to some pleasant ground, 
Where welcome hills shut out the imiverse. 
And pines their lawny walk encompass round ; 
There, if a pause delicious converse found, 
'Twas but when o'er each heart th' idea stole, 
(Perchance awhile in joy's oblivion drown'd,) 
That come what may, while life's glad pulses 

roll, 
Indissolubly thus should soul be knit to soul. 



GERTRUDE OF WYOMING. 35 

V. 

And ill the visions of romantic youth, 
What years of endless bliss are yet to flow? 
But, mortal pleasure, what art thou in truth ? 
The torrent's smoothness, ere it dash below ! 
And must I change my song? and must I show, 
Sweet Wyoming ! the day when thou wert doom'd. 
Guiltless, to mourn thy loveliest bowers laid low ! 
When where of yesterday a garden bloom'd. 
Death overspread Iiis pall, and blackening ashes 
gloom'd ! 

VI. 

Sad was the year, by proud oppression driven, 

When Transatlantic Liberty arose, 

Not in the sunshine and the smile of heaven, 

But wrapt in whirlwinds, and begirt with woes, 

Amidst the strife of fratricidal foes ; 

Her birth-star was the light of burning plains ;* 

Her baptism is the weight of blood that flows 

From kindred hearts— the blood of British veins — 

And famine tracks her steps, and pestilential pains. 

VII. 

Yet, ere the storm of death had raged remote, 
Or siege unseen in heaven reflects its beams, 
Who now each dreadful circumstance shall note, 

* Alluding to the miseries that attended the American civil war. 



36 GERTRUDE OF WYOMING. 

That fills pale Gertrude's thoughts, and nightly- 
dreams ? 
Dismal to her the forge of battle gleams 
Portentous light ! and music's voice is dumb; 
Save where the fife its shrill reveille screams, 
Or midnight streets re-echo to the drum, 
That speaks of maddening strife, and bloodstain'd 
fields to come. 

VIII. 

It was in truth a momentary pang ; 

Yet how comprising myriad shapes of wo ! 

First when in Gertrude's ear the summons rang, 

A husband to the battle doom'd to go ! 

" Nay, meet not thou (she cries) thy kindred foe, 

But peaceful let us seek fair England's strand ;" 

" Ah, Gertrude ! thy beloved heart, I know, 

Would feel like mine the stigmatizing brand ! 

Could I forsake the cause of Freedom's holy band ! 

IX. 

" But shame — but flight — a recreant's name to 

prove, 
To hide in exile ignominious fears ; 
Say, e'en if this I brook'd, — the public love 
Thy father's bosom to his home endears : 
And how could 1 his few remaining years, 
My Gertrude, sever from so dear a child ?" 
So, day by day, her boding heart he cheers ; 



GERTRUDE OF WYOMING. 37 

At last that heart to hope is half beguiled, 
And, pale through tears suppress'd, the mournful 
beauty smiled. 



Night came, — and in their lighted bovver, full 

late, 
The joy of converse had endured — when, hark ! 
Abrupt and loud a summons shook their gate ; 
And heedless of the dog's obstreperous bark, 
A form had rush'd amidst them from the dark. 
And spread his arms, — and fell upon the floor : 
Of aged strength his limbs reiain'd the mark : 
But desolate he look'd, and famish'd poor, 
As ever shipvvreck'd wretch lone left on desert 

shore. 



XI. 

Uprisen, each wondering brow is knit and arch'd : 

A spirit from the dead they deem him first : 

To speak he tries ; but quivering, pale, and parch'd, 

From lips, as by some powerless dream accursed, 

Emotions unintelligible burst ; 

And long his fihiied eye is red and dim ; 

At length the pity-proifered cup his thirst 

Had half assuaged, and nerved his shuddering 

limb, 
When Albert's hand he grasp'd ;— but Albert knew 

not him — 

4 



38 GERTRUDE OF WYOMING. 

XII. 

" And hast thou then forgot," (he cried forlorn, 
And eyed the group with half-indignant air,) 
" Oh ! hast thou. Christian chief, forgot the morn 
When I with thee the cup of peace did share/ 
Then stately was this head, and dark this hair, 
That now is white as Appal achia's snow ; 
But, if the weight of fifteen years' despair, 
And age hath bow'd me, and the torturing foe, 
Bring me my boy — and he will his deliverer 
know !" 

XIII. 

It was not long, with eyes and heart of flame. 

Ere Henry to his loved Oneida flew : 

" Bless thee, my guide !" — but backward, as he 

came. 
The chief his old bewildered head withdrew, 
And grasped his arm, and look'd and look'd him 

through. 
*Twas strange — nor could the group a smile 

control — 
The long, the doubtful scrutiny to view : — 
At last delight o'er all his features stole, 
'•It is — my own," he cried, and clasp'd him to 

his soul. 



GERTRUDE OF WYOMING. 39 

XIV. 

" Yes ! thou recall'st my pride of years, for then 
The bowstring of my spirit was not slack, 
When, spite of woods, and floods, and ambush'd 

men, 
I bore thee like the quiver on my back, 
Fleet as the whirlwind hurries on the rack ; 
Nor foeman then, nor cougar's crouch I fear'd,* 
For I was strong as mountain cataract : 
And dost not thou remember how we cheer'd, 
Upon the last hill-top, when white men's huts 

appear'd ? 

XV. 

"Then welcome be my death song, and my death. 
Since I have seen thee, and again embraced." 
And longer had he spent his toil-worn breath, 
But with affectionate and eager haste. 
Was every arm outstretch'd around their guest, 
To welcome and to bless his aged head. 
Soon was the hospitable banquet placed ; 
And Gertrude's lovely hands a balsam shed 
On wounds with fever'd joy that more profusely 
bled. 

XVI. 

"But this is not a time," — he started up, 

And smote his breast with wo-denouncing hand — 

* Cougar, the American tiger. 



40 GERTRUDE OF WYOMING. 

"This is no time to fill the joyous cup; 

The Mammoth comes, — the foe^ — the Monster 

Brant,* — 
With all his howling desolating band ; — 
These eyes have seen their blade and burning 

pine 
Awake at once, and silence half your land. 
Red is the cup they drink ; but not with wine : 
Awake, and watch to-night, or see no morning 

shine ! 

XVII. 

" Scorning to wield the hatchet for his bribe, 
'Gainst Brant himself 1 went to battle forth : 
Accursed Brant ! he left of all my tribe 
Nor man, nor child, nor thing of living birth : 
No ! not the dog, that watch'd my household 

hearth. 
Escaped that night of blood, upon our plains ! 
All perish'd ! — I alone am left on earth ! 
To whom nor relative nor blood remains, 
No ! — not a kindred drop that runs in human 

veins ! 

XVIII. 

" But go ! — and rouse your warriors ; — for, if right 
These old bevvilder'd eyes could guess, by signs 

■* l?rant was the leader of those Moliawka, and other savages, who laid 
waste this part of Pennsylvania. Vide the note at the end of this poem. 



GERTRUDE OF WYOMING. 41 

Of Striped and starred banners, on yon height 
Of eastern cedars, o'er the creek of pines — 
Some fort embattled by your country shines : 
Deep roars th' innavigable gulf below 
Its squared rock, and palisaded lines. 
Go ! seek the light its warlike beacons show ; 
Whilst I in ambush wait, for vengeance and the 
foe !" 



XIX. 

Scarce had he utter'd — when heaven's verge ex- 
treme 
Reverberates the bomb's descendins: star, — 
And sounds that mingled laugh, — and shout, — 

and scream, — 
To freeze the blood, in one discordant jar, 
Rung to the pealing thunderbolts of war. 
Whoop after whoop with rack the ear assail'd ! 
As if unearthly fiends had burst their bar ; 
While rapidly the marksman's shot prevail'd : — 
And aye, as if for death, some lonely trumpet 
wail'd. 

XX. 

Then look'd they to the hills, where fire o'erhung 
The bandit groups, in one Vesuvian glare : 
Or swept, far seen, the tower, whose clock unrung. 
Told legible that midnight of despair. 
She faints, — she falters not, — th' heroic fair, — 
4* 



42 GERTRUDE OF WYOMING. 

As he the sword and plume in haste array'd. 
One short embrace — he clasp'd his dearest care- 
But hark ! what nearer war-drum shakes the 

glade ? 
Joy, joy ! Columbia's friends are tramping through 

the shade ! 

XXI. 

Then came of every race the mingled swarm, 
Far rung the groves and gleam'd the midnight 

grass. 
With flambeau, javelin, and naked arm ; 
As warriors wheel'd their culverins of brass, 
Sprung from the woods, a bold athletic mass. 
Whom virtue fires, and liberty combines : 
And first the wild Moravian yagers pass, 
His plumed host the dark Iberian joins — 
And Scotia's sword beneath the Highland thistle 

shines. 

XXII. 

And in, the buskin'd hunters of the deer, 

To Albert's home, with shout and cymbal throng : 

Roused by their warlike pomp, and mirth, and 

cheer. 
Old Outalissa woke his battle-song, 
And, beating with his war-club cadence strong, 
Tells how his deep-stung indignation smarts. 
Of them that wrapt his house in flames, ere long 



GERTRUDE OP WYOMING. 43 

To whet a dagger on their stony hearts, 

And smile avenged ere yet his eagle spirit parts. 

XXIII. 

Calm, opj)Osite the Christian father rose, 
Pale on his venerable brow its rays 
Of martyr light the conflagration throws ; 
One hand upon his lovely child he lays. 
And one th' uncover'd crowd to silence sways ; 
While though the battle flash is faster driven, — 
Unawed, with eye unstartled by the blaze, 
He for his bleeding country prays to Heaven — 
Prays that the men of blood themselves may be 
foro^iven. 

XXIV. 

Short time is now for gratulating speech : 

And yet. beloved Gertrude, ere began 

Thy country's flight, yon distant towers to reach, 

Look'd not on thee the rudest partisan 

With brow relax'd to love? And murmurs ran, 

As round and round their willing ranks they 

drew, 
From beauty's sight to shield the hostile van. 
Grateful, on them a placid look she threw. 
Nor wept, but as she bade her mother's grave 

adieu ! 



44 GERTRUDE OF WYOMING. 

XXV. 

Past was the flight, and welcome seem'd the tower, 
That like a giant standard-bearer frown'd 
Defiance on the roving Indian power. 
Beneath, each bold and promontory mound 
With embrasure emboss'd, and armour crown'd, 
An arrowy frieze, and wedged ravelin. 
Wove like a diadem its tracery round 
The lofty summit of that mountain green ; 
Here stood secure the group, and eyed a distant 
scene, — 

XXVI. 

A scene of death ! where fires beneath the sun. 
And blended arms, and white paviUons glow ; 
And for the business of destruction done 
Its requiem the war-horn seem'd to blow : 
There, sad spectatress of her country's wo ! 
The lovely Gertrude, safe from present harm, 
Had laid her cheek, and clasp'd her hands of 

snow 
On Waldegrave's shoulder, half within his arm 
Enclosed, that felt her heart, and hush'd its wild 

alarm ! 

XXVII. 

But short that contemplation — sad and short 
The pause to bid each much-loved scene adieu ! 



^'..^>^'^' 




GERTRUDE OF WYOMING. 45 

Beneath the very shadow of the fort, 

Where friendly swords were drawn, and banners 

flew, 
Ah ! who could deem that foot of Indian crew 
Was near ? — yet there, with hist of murderous 

deeds, 
Gleam'd like a basilisk, from woods in view, 
The ambush'd foeman's eye — his volley speeds, 
And Albert — Albert — falls ! the dear old father 

bleeds ! 

XXVIII. 

And tranced in giddy horror Gertrude swoon'd ; 
Yet, while she clasps him lifeless to her zone, 
Say. burst they, borrow'd from her father's wound, 
These drops ? — Oh, God ! the life-blood is her 



own 



And falt'ring, on her Waldegrave's bosom thrown, 
" Weep not, O love !" — she cries, " to see me 

bleed — 
Thee, Gertrude's sad survivor, thee alone 
Heaven's peace commiserate ; for scarce I heed 
These wounds ; — yet thee to leave is death, is 

death indeed ! 

XXIX. 

'' Clasp me a little longer on the brink 
Of fate ! while 1 can feel thy dear caress : 



46 GERTRUDE OF WYOMING. 

And when this heart hath ceased to beat — oh 

think, 
And let it mitigate thy v.o's excess, 
That thou hast been to me all tenderness, 
And friend to more than human friendship just. 
Oh ! by that retrospect of happiness, 
And by the hopes of an immortal trust, 
God shall assuage thy pangs when I am laid in 

dust! 

XXX. 

•' Go, Henry, go not back, when I depart ; 

The scene thy bursting tears too deep will move, 

Where my dear father took thee to his heart, 

And Gertrude thought it ecstasy to rove 

With thee, as with an angel, through the grove 

Of peace, imagining her lot was cast 

In heaven ; for ours was not like earthly love. 

And must this parting be our very last ? 

No! I shall love thee still, when death itself is past. 

XXXI. 

"Half could I bear, methinks, to leave this earth, 
And thee, more loved than aught beneath the sun. 
If I had lived to smile but on the birth 
Of one dear pledge; — but shall there then be 

none. 
In future times — no gentle little one, 



GERTRUDE OF WYOMING. 47 

To clasp thy neck, and look, resembling me ? 
Yet seems it, e'en while life's last pulses run, 
A sweetness in the cup of death to be. 
Lord of my bosom's love ! to die beholding thee !" 

XXXII. 

Hush'd were his Gertrude's lips ! but still their 

bland 
And beautiful expression seem'd to melt 
With love that could not die ! and still his hand 
She presses to the heart no more that felt. 
Ah, heart ! where once each fond affection dwelt, 
And features yet that spoke a soul more fair. 
Mute, gazing, agonizing, as he knelt, — 
Of them that stood encircling his despair. 
He heard some friendly words ; — but knew not 

what they were. 

XXXIII. 

For now, to mourn their judge and child, arrives 
A faithful band. With solemn rites between, 
'Tvvas sung, how they were lovely in their lives, 
And in their deaths had not divided been. 
Touch'd by the music, and the melting scene. 
Was scarce one tearless eye amidst the crowd : — 
Stern warriors, resting on their swords, were seen 
To veil their eyes, as pass'd each much-loved 

shroud — 
While woman's softer soul in wo dissolved aloud. 



48 GERTRUDE OF WYOMING. 

XXXIV. 

Then mournfully the parting bugle bid 

Its farewell, o'er the grave of worth and truth ; 

Prone to the dust, afflicted Waldegrave hid 

His face on earth ; — him watch'd, in gloomy ruth. 

His woodland guide : but words had none to 

soothe 
The grief that knew not consolation's name : 
Casting his Indian mantle o'er the youth, 
He watch'd, beneath its folds, each burst that came 
Convulsive, ague-like, across his shuddering frame! 

XXXV. 

" And I could weep ;" — th' Oneida chief 

His descant wildly thus begun : 

" But that I may not stain with grief 

The death-song of my father's son, 

Or bow this head in wo ! 

For by my wrongs, and by my wrath ! 

To-morrow Areouski's breath, 

(That fires yon heaven with storms of death,) 

Shall light us to the foe ; 

And we shall share, my Christian boy ! 

The foeman's blood, the avenger's joy ! 

XXXVI. 

" But thee, my flo\/er, whose breath was given 
By milder genii o'er the deep. 



GERTRUDE OF WYOMING. 49 

The spirits of the white man's heaven 

Forbid not thee to weep : — 

Nor will the Christian host, 

Nor will thy father's spirit grieve. 

To see thee, on the battle's eve, 

Lamenting, take a mournful leave 

Of her who loved thee most : 

She was the rainbow to thy sight ! 

Thy sun — thy heaven — of lost delight ! 

XXXVII. 

" To-morrow let us do or die ! 

But when the bolt of death is hurl'd, 

Ah ! whither then with thee to fly, 

Shall Outalissi roam the world ? 

Seek we thy once-loved home ? 

The hand is gone that cropt its flowers : • 

Unheard their clock repeats its hours ! 

Cold is the hearth within their bowers ! 

And should we hither roam. 

Its echoes, and its empty tread, 

Would sound like voices from the dead ! 

XXXVIII. 

" Or shall we cross yon mountains blue, 
Whose streams my kindred nation quafi^d, 
And by my side, in battle true, 
A thousand warriors drew the shaft? 



5 



50 GERTRUDE OF WYOMING. 

Ah ! there in desolation cold, 

The desert serpent dwells alone, 

Where grass o'ergrows each mouldering bone, 

And stones themselves to ruin grown, 

Like me, are death-like old. 

Then seek we not their camp, — for there 

The silence dwells of my despair ! 

XXXIX. 

" But hark, the trump ! — to-morrow thou 
In glory's fires shalt dry thy tears : 
E'en from the land of shadows now 
My father's awful ghost appears. 
Amidst the clouds that round us roll ! 
He bids my soul for battle thirst — 
He bids me dry the last — the first — 
The only tears that ever burst 
From Outalissi's soul ; 
Because I may not stain with grief 
The death-song of an Indian chief!" 



WYOMING. 



WYOMING, 



ITS HISTORY. 



•MUCH YET REMAINS UNSUNG. 



BY WILLIAM L. STONE. 



NEW- YORK : 

WILEY & PUTNAM. 

1841. 



WYOMING. 



CHAPTER I. 

Preliminary remarks — Travelling — its facilities — Route to the Valley of 
Wyoming from New- York. — Muskonetcong Mountain, —Delaware Wa- 
ter-Gap,— Stroudsburg,— Kakatchlanamin Hills or Blue Mountains,— 
the Wind-Gap, — Pokono Mountains. 

The passion for travelling, so often and so habit- 
ually spoken of as a characteristic of the English 
people, seems to have been transmitted, with many 
other of their national peculiarities, to their Ameri- 
can descendants ; stimulated, moreover, to increas- 
ed activity, by the vast extent, the enlarged commu- 
nity of interests and feelings, and the unequalled fa- 
cilities for conveyance, which are united in our 
country. The magnificent steamboats and mul- 
titudinous rail-roads which this tendency of the 
American people, and the necessities of their un- 
bounded commercial enterprise, have called into 
existence, afford sufficient evidence, in their num- 
ber and extent, of the great amount of travel at 
all times in progress ; but to obtain a full concep- 
tion of the locomotive propensity by which the 



56 HISTORY OF WYOMING. 

citizens are animated, it is necessary to be a pas- 
seno^er, during either of the summer months, on 
board one or another of the sfio-antic steamboats 
that ply along the principal thoroughfares of in- 
land navigation — such, for instance, as the Hud- 
son, the Delaware, or the Mississippi. If the boat 
in which the adventurous observer entrusts his 
person should happen to be one of a line engag- 
ing at the moment in competition with a rival, 
and therefore presenting the temptation of a charge 
reduced almost to nothing, his understanding of 
the eagerness for travel which animates all classes, 
sexes, and occupations, will be all the more en- 
larged and enlightened. 

A natural consequence of this universal appetite 
is the zeal with which new scenes and localities 
are sought out, as the objects of touring indus- 
try — a zeal displayed in astonishing activity by 
the rich and novelty-loving travellers of England, 
and only in a less degree by their fellow-explorers 
of America. Of late years we have seen the former 
pushing tlieir researches into the remotest quar- 
ters of the globe — the trackless deserts of Africa, 
the wild steppes and mountains of Central Asia, 
the sterile plains of Russia, the dark forests of 
Norway, the savage prairies of our Western Con- 
tinent, and the far distant isles of the Pacific ; 
and the latter, in the same spirit though with 
means more limited and time less entirely at their 
command, pushing their summer expeditions to 
the British Provinces and the great lakes of the 



HISTORY OF WYOMING. 57 

Northwest — not to mention the frequency with 
which Americans are seen or heard of among the 
splendid capitals of Europe, or the relics of the 
wonderful past in Africa and Asia. 

Touching these last, no man of intelligence or of 
enlaro^ed understandinsr will think for a moment 
of censuring the spirit in which journies to behold 
them are undertaken, probably, in the great ma- 
jority of instances ; the spirit, doubtless, of liberal 
curiosity and of desire for knowledge. Neverthe- 
less, it is worthy of remark that, familiar as the 
principal resorts of home tourists may be to thou- 
sands upon thousands of Americans — perfectly 
at home as they may find themselves in Washing- 
ton, New- York, Philadelphia, Boston, duebec and 
Montreal, and generally well informed as to the 
main features of the country in its different re- 
gions — there are yet very many places worthy 
to be visited, either on account of natural attrac- 
tions, or events of which they have been the 
scene, or perhaps of both these causes in combi- 
nation ; places rarely included within the range 
of annual excursions, yet rich in scenery or in re- 
collections, worthy to be noted by the curious in- 
quirer, and to be enjoyed by him who seeks in 
travel refreshment for his mind and gratification 
for his refined and cultivated tastes. 

Such is the Valley of Wyoming — exquisitely 
beautiful in scenery, and invested by the history 
of the past and the genius of poesy with attrac- 
tions not less strong or enduring. Such it was 



68 HISTORY OF WYOMING. 

found to be, greatly to his own enjoyment, by the 
author of this unpretending volume, in an excur- 
sion performed during the summer of 1839 ; and 
in the hope of inducing others to procure for them- 
selves pleasures like those which he enjoyed, he 
has ventured to draw up from his notes a brief de- 
scription of the scenes and objects by which he 
was deeply interested, and which, in his humble 
judgment, fairly entitle the lovely and far-famed 
Valley of Wyoming to a place in the " itineraries " 
of the United States, not less distinguished than 
many other localities have long possessed, whose 
claims, though more generally recognized, are 
neither more valid nor more numerous. 

Another consideration has had much to do with 
the production of this volume — one which the 
author has some diffidence in statins:, as its avowal 
may subject him, though erroneously, to the 
charge of literary presumption. The reader has 
seen in the preceding pages, that the name of 
Wyoming has been illustrated and adorned by 
the genius of a great poet, and in his lay of per- 
fect music embalmed for everlasting fame. In ex- 
tent, wherever the English language is read or 
spoken — in time, so long as that language shall 
exist, either as living or dead — the Wyoming of 
Campbell is and will be a creation lovely to the 
heart and imagination of mankind. But the poet 
has given to the world a creation that is only im- 
aginary. His Wyoming is not the Wyoming of 
prosaic reality, nor is the tale to which he has 



HISTORY OF WYOMING. 59 

married it in accordance with the facts of history. 
Of course no reproach is meant for him in making 
this declaration. His choice of materials and the 
use he made of them were governed by the pur- 
poses and necessities of his own art — not by 
those of the historian ; and as the requirements of 
his own art would have been perfectly well satis- 
fied by a total invention of incidents, so there was 
no obligation upon him to use any thing more 
than such a partial foundation of reality as would 
be sufficient for the ends he had in view. 

But though no exception be taken to the poet 
for tlie fanciful colouring he has given to events 
so full of interest, it is perhaps not unwarrantable 
to presume that thousands of his admiring readers 
would desire to know the real features of that pic- 
ture which, with his embellishments, appears so 
lovely. Such desire would almost unavoidably 
spring up from the natural propensity of men to 
seek after truth ; and it would be stimulated, 
doubtless, by curiosity to compare the real with 
the imagined. 

In this belief the author has found encourage- 
ment to prepare his little volume for the public ; 
while motive was furnished by the injustice done, 
however innocently, in the poem, to a personage 
of no mean celebrity, in whose character and life 
the author has long felt a deep interest. It will 
be understood, probably, that reference is made to 
the famous Mohawk chieftain Brant — designa- 
ted in the poem, with equal wrong to his morals 



60 HISTORY OF WYOMING. 

and his patronymic, " the monster Brandt." Co- 
extensive with the knowledge of the poem is the 
wrong done to his memory by ascribing to him 
cruelties in which he had no share, and at the 
perpetration of which he was not even present ; and 
although to the later editions of his poem Camp- 
bell has appended a note, acknowledging his er- 
ror in this respect, the Thayendanegea of history 
is still '' the monster Brandt " to thousands who 
derive all their knowledge of him from the death- 
less " Gertrude of Wyoming." 

A desire to contribute something toward the 
rescue of the Indian warrior's fame, was promi- 
nent among the considerations that led to the 
production of the present work ; while, indepen- 
dently of the interest with which the Yalley of 
Wyoming has been invested by Campbell, it is 
believed that the actual history of that beautiful 
region, limited though it be in its geographical di- 
mensions, is sufficiently rich in incident to war- 
rant at least a passing notice from the muse of 
history. In the preparation of these pages, for 
the sake of convenience, the popular style of the 
tourist has occasionally been adopted. 

Wyoming is a section of the valley of the Sus- 
quehanna river, situated due west of the city of 
New- York, distant, in a direct line, about one 
hundred miles. The usual route is across New- 
Jersey to Easton, and the Delaware river, and 
thence by the Wilkesbarre turnpike, through the 
*' Wind-Gap " of the Blue Mountains, and across 



HISTORY OF WYOMING. 61 

the wild and far-famed Pokono. A less direct but 
more romantic route was chosen by the writer for 
the purpose of visiting the stupendous scenery of 
the Delaware " Water-Gap." 

From New- York to Morristown by rail-road, 
passing through Newark, Orange, Millville and 
Chatham. The country is agreeably diversified 
with highland and plain — orchards and cultiva- 
ted fields — verdant groves crowning the hills, or 
stretching down their sides to the Passaic river 
and its tributaries ; their superb vegetation run- 
ning down the dales, where the rich elms and 
willows bend their branches over the streams and 
fountains, affording landscape-glimpses of surpas- 
sing beauty. On the side of one of these hills, of 
moderate elevation, sheltered from the northwest, 
and looking into the valley of the sinuous Pas- 
saic, stands the modest country retreat of the 
Hon. James Kent, formerly Chief Justice, and 
afterward Chancellor of the State of New- York. 
The country thence to the base of Schooley's 
Mountain — anciently called the Muskonetcong — 
rapidly assumes a rougher aspect. The hills of- 
ten aspire to a more respectable size, and with the 
increasing altitude the farms appear less produc- 
tive. Still, there are meadows and pastures "full 
of fresh verdure," while there is beauty to be de- 
scried in many a "winding vale" below. A brisk 
stream laves the eastern base of the Muskonet- 
cong. flowing to the south, and affording abundant 
water-power for mills and manufactories. The 
6 



62k HISTORY OF WYOMING. 

ascent of the mountain is by a winding road suf- 
ficiently steep to remind one of Beattie's pathetic 
exclamation : — 

" How hard it is to climb !" 

and affording a broad and beautifully variegated 
landscape, as the traveller occasionally stops to 
breathe and look behind. The height of the 
mountain is probably eight hundred or a thou- 
sand feet — not above the level of the sea, but 
from the steppe on which it stands. At the point 
where it is crossed by the turnpike, the top of the 
mountain presents the surface of a plain, of per- 
haps a mile and a half in breadth. It is suffi- 
ciently rocky to require strength and patience in 
its cultivation, and in its primitive condition its 
aspect must have been most forbidding. Never- 
theless the energies of man have triumphed over 
its original sterility, and worse looking farms may 
often be seen in a less rugged country. 

This elevated spot has enjoyed some celebrity 
for more than half a century, as a watering-place, 
from the circumstance that a mineral spring flows 
from its rocks, the waters of which are esteemed 
excellent for bathing. There are two public 
houses, of ancient and respectable aspect, for the 
accommodation of boarders — those who desire to 
apply the waters of the fountain, and those who 
visit this place for the benefit of the elastic and 
invigorating mountain air. The first of the two 
large houses approached from the east, is Belmont 



HISTORY OF WYOMING. 63 

Hall^ generally patronised by the New-Yorkers. 
The house is embosomed in a noble grove of oaks 
affording a broad and grateful shade. The other 
hotel is called the Heath House. It stands upon 
a delightful site, and also, like its rival, wears an 
aspect of patrician comfort. This house is the fa- 
vourite resort of the Philadelphians. From both, 
and indeed from the whole mountain table, the 
prospect, on every hand, but especially toward the 
west, affords a broad and magnificent picture — 
extending over many a deep green valley and 
laughing hill, even to the Blue Mountains beyond 
tlie Delaware. 

The spring gushes from a rock — or rather 
oozes, for it has not power to gush — in a wild 
glen three-quarters of a mile below, toward the 
west. It is a lonely, romantic place, and a small 
bathing-house shelters the spring. The waters 
are slightly tinctured with iron, and are suffi- 
ciently insipid to the taste of those who have just 
been quaJSing from, the sparkling fountains of Sar- 
atoga. 

The descent is along the ravine already men- 
tioned, which is deep and shadowy, and at times, 
as wild as nature can make it. Emerging from 
the glen, the charming valley of the Muskonetcong 
river welcomes the traveller with a scene of pla- 
cid beauty. Here, crossing the stream, the route 
that had been chosen diverges toward the north, 
through the pleasant village of Hackettstown. 
This section of INew- Jersey is not only beautiful 



64 HISTORY OF WYOMING. 

to the eye, but evidently fertile. As the tourist 
leaves the valley, climbing another range of hills, 
overlooking other magnificent pictures, and again 
descending to the bed of another clear mountain 
stream, the varying prospects, the free air and the 
bright sun, with here and there a flitting mass of 
cloud darkening for a moment a wood-girt hill, 
afford a succession of objects for delighted con- 
templation. 

In ascending from one of these valleys, between 
Hackettstown and Vienna, the road crosses the 
Morris Canal, leading from Easton to Jersey City, 
opposite to New-York. It is an important work 
for New- York, opening, as it does, a direct pas- 
sage by water to the coal mines of the Lehigh in 
Pennsylvania. 

At the distance of some eight or ten miles from 
the valley of the Muskonetcong, after crossing the 
Pequest river, and ascending a hill which aspires 
to the character of a mountain, a landscape opens 
to the north, of singular grandeur and magnifi- 
cence. The Delaware Water-Gap must be more 
than twenty miles distant, yet the eye, overlook- 
ing many a beautiful hill and romantic valley in 
the foreground, at once catches the bold outline 
of the cleft mountains in the distance, strongly 
relieved against the hoary crests of the mountains 
yet more remote. On the left, from the same el- 
evation, as the eye stretches over the hills beyond 
the Delaware, the noble range of the Blue Moun- 
tains rises in glorious prospect. 



HISTORY OF WYOMING. 65 

At the next resting place, which is the town of 
Hope, the notice of the stranger is attracted by the 
peculiar construction of the inn, an ancient stone 
edifice, unusually large for such a purpose, and 
having a wide hall across either end, with a flight 
of steps ascending to the second story in each. 
It was once a Moravian Church — the United 
Brethren having originally planted that town, as 
a missionary post — and hence its name. The 
feet of Zeisberger, and Zinzendorf, of Buettner, 
and Rauch, have trodden that soil, and perhaps 
this band of self-denying apostles themselves have 
partaken of the sacramental cup within the very 
walls now affording shelter and refreshment to 
any that may choose to call. This, too, was 
within the missionary region traversed by holy 
Brainerd, whose principal station, while enga- 
ged as a missionary among the Indians, was at 
the "Forks of the Delaware," as the junc- 
tion of the Delaware and Lehigh was called. 
And where, now, are the dusky congregations of 
the Aborigines to whom they preached the ever- 
lasting Gospel?- Echo answers — ^'' Where T^ 
The most war-like and noble of the New- Jersey 
Indians, some of whom were of the Five Nations, 
were planted in this section of New- Jersey when 
the white men came. Nor was the most sao^acious 
among them without gloomy forebodings of what 
was to be their fate, after the pale faces should 
obtain a permanent foothold. A sachem of one 
of these Jersey clans, being observed to look with 
6* 



66 HISTORY OF WYOMING. 

solemn attention upon the great comet which ap- 
peared in October, 1680, was asked what he 
thought was the meaning of that prodigious and 
wonderful object. He answered gravely — ^^ It 
signijies that we Indians shall melt away^ like 
the S71010 in spring, and this country he inhabi- 
ted hy another people.''^ The forest king was a 
prophet as well as hunter. 

Five miles from Hope is Autun's ferry, over 
which travellers are conveyed by a flat boat ; and 
from hence it is yet seven miles to the Water- 
Gap, over a rugged road, but through scenery 
most beautifully wild and romantic. The course 
of the road is for the most part upon the elevated 
margin of the river, bright glimpses of which of- 
ten appear through the trees, like tiny lakes of li- 
quid silver, below. At length the traveller enters 
the gorge of the mountains — the road winding 
along their base, beneath their frowning peaks — 
narrow, and often upon the very verge of a gulf, 
rendered more appalling by the dimness of the 
light, and his ignorance of its depth. 

Geologists suppose the deep, winding chasm 
through this stupendous range of mountains to 
have been wrought by some mighty convulsion 
of nature, by which the rocks were cloven, and a 
passage formed for the river, the waters of which 
must have previously flowed through some other 
channel. The distance from the southern en- 
trance of tlic pass to tlic hotel, which stands upon 
a subdued jutting promontory, toward its northern 



HISTORY OF WYOMING. 67 

termination, is only two miles, but at least an hour 
is general 1 y employed in overcoming it, and at night 
the time seems two. The tourist, however, can- 
not enjoy to the full the grandeur of the scene, 
and the feelings of elevated though chastened de- 
light incident to its contemplation, without study- 
ing it by night, as well as by day. Sensations of 
solemn grandeur are awakened by threading a 
chasm profound and solitary like this, in the 
gloom of night, studying the sharp outlines of the 
mountains against the sky, and occasionally catch- 
ing a glimpse of a precipice beetling over the gulf, 
by the aid of a casual mass of light thrown against 
it by the fitful moon, and rendering the shadows 
below denser and more palpable. 

Less thrilling, though not less sublime, and 
more beautiful, is the view of this wild Alpine 
landscape in the early morning of a bright day. 
The masses of naked rocks, on the eastern side of 
the river toward the southern gorge, rising to an 
elevation of eight hundred or a thousand feet, in 
some places as upright and smooth as though a 
creation of art, and at others spiked, ragged and 
frowning, are comparatively undistinguishable 
while obscured by the raven wing of night. But 
their dusky sublimity is greatly enhanced when 
revealed to the eye in their unclouded majesty 
and grandeur by the light of day. In the gray 
of the morning, before yet the sun has gilded their 
tops, standing upon the jutting point already men- 
tioned as the site of the hotel, almost the entire 



68 HISTORY OF WYOMING. 

section comprising" this remarkable passage is dis- 
tinctly in view, — gloomy from the yet nnretreat- 
ing shade, — and disclosing the abrupt sinuosities 
of the river, together with all the irregularities of 
rock and mountain incident to such a formation ; 
— the mountains, for the most part, clothed with 
wood to their summits, and the whole scene as 
wild and fresh as though just from the hand of 
nature. Low in the gulf, at the base of the moun- 
tains, a cloud of milk-white vapor sleeps upon 
the bosom of the river. In the course of half 
an hour, with a change of temperature in the su- 
perincumbent atmosphere, the vapor begins to 
ascend, and a gentle current of air wafts it, as by 
the sweet soft breathing of morn herself, without 
breaking the cloud, to the western side of the 
river. There, for a while, it hangs in angel white- 
ness, like a zone of silver belting the mountain. 
Below, along the whole course of the gulf, the 
sides of the mountains are yet clad in solemn and 
shadowy drapery, while in bright and glorious 
contrast the sun havihor at lensfth bcmni climb- 
ing the sky in good earnest, their proud crests are 
now glittering with golden radiance. 

By climbing a mountain behind the hotel to the 
northwest, and looking into the chasm toward the 
south, a fine view of the zig-zag course of the 
river is aflbrded, down to the second turn, where 
its deep narrow volume is apparently brought to 
an end by the intervention of the buttress of rock 



HISTORY OF WYOMING. 69 

on the Jersey shore, already adverted to. But the 
best position for surveying the whole pass, and 
enjoying its sublimity to entire satisfaction, is 
from a small boat paddled along leisurely upon 
the river through the gulf The maps furnish 
no just idea of the channel of the river through 
the gap — the actual course resembling the sharp 
curvatures of an angry serpent before he is coiled, 
or rather, perhaps, this section of the river would 
be best delineated by a line like a letter m . The 
general height of the mountain barriers is about 
sixteen hundred feet. They are all very precipi- 
tous ; and while sailing along their bases in a 
skiff, their dreadful summits, some of them, seem 
actually to hang beetling over the head. This is 
especially the case with the Jersey mountains — 
the surfaces of which, next the river, as already 
stated, are of bare rock, lying in regular blocks, in 
long ranges, as even as though hewn, and laid in 
stratifications, like stupendous masonry — "the 
masonry of God !" 

Not far from the hotel, among the mountains 
above, is a small lake, which has been dammed 
at the foot, and converted into a trout-pond. By 
opening a sluice-gate, an artificial cataract can at 
any time be formed by the waters of the lake, 
which come rushing down a precipitous rock two 
or three hundred feet into the embrace of the 
river, as though leaping for joy at their liberation. 
The scene of the Water-Gap, as a whole, and as 



70 HISTORY OF WYOMING. 

a point of attraction for the lovers of nature in 
her wildness and grandeur, by far transcends the 
highlands of Hudson's river, or even the yet more 
admired region of the Horicon.* 

Unless the tourist descends by the course of the 
river, twenty miles, to Easton, the route from the 
Water-Gap to Wyoming is by Stroudsburg, flank- 
ing the Kittaninny,f or Bkie Mountains ; thence 
southwest, travelling: alonor their western side to 
intersect the Easton and Wilkesbarre turnpike, at 
a notch through that range of mountains, called 
the Wind-Gap. The coarse is north, two and a 
half miles along the Delaware, to the estuary of 
a considerable and rapid stream, called Brod- 
head's Creek, by the moderns, from the name of 
one of the first white settlers of the country. The 
Indian name, far more euphonious, is Analomink. 
Thence west to Stroudsburg. This is a pleasant- 
ly situated village, the planting of which was 
commenced by a gentleman named Stroud, before 
the war of the American revolution. It stands 
upon a sweet plain, having a mountain for an ev- 
erlasting prospect on the south, between which 
and the village flows the Pokono Creek, descend- 
ing from the mountain range of that name, and 
uniting with the Analomink in its neighbour- 
hood. Stroudsburg is the shire town of Munroe 



♦ The Indian name of Lake George. 

t Kiltaninny is the modern orthography. The ancient was " the Kakatch- 
lannniin Hills." Rut Uio name is sptit in almost as many different ways 
aa there are books and manuscripts in which the range is mentioned. 



HISTORY OF WYOMING. 71 

County. The settlements at this place, during 
the French war of 1755 — 1763, formed the north- 
ern frontier of Pennsylvania, and were within the 
territory of the Minisink Indians, or Monseys, as 
they were sometimes called. The chain of mili- 
tary posts erected by the colony of Pennsylvania, 
extending from the Delaware to the Potomac, was 
commenced at this point ; and the celebrated chief 
of the Lenelenoppes, or Delaware Indians, Teed- 
yuscung, was occasionally a resident here. This 
chieftain was an able man, who played a distin- 
guished but subtle part during the border troub- 
les of the French war, particularly toward the 
close of his life. He was charged with treachery 
toward the English, and perhaps justly: and yet 
candour demands the acknowledgment, that he 
did not take up the hatchet against them without 
something more than a plausible reason ; while 
by so doing, he was the means of restoring to his 
people something of the dignity characteristic of 
his race, but which had almost disappeared under 
the oppression of the Six Nations. He was pro- 
fessedly a convert to the Moravian Missionaries ; 
but those who have written of him have held that 
he reflected little credit upon the faith of his new 
spiritual advisers. But whether injustice may not 
have been done him in this respect also, is a ques- 
tion upon which much light will be thrown in a 
subsequent chapter. He came to a melancholy 
end : but it is not necessary to anticipate the pro- 



72 HISTORY OF WYOMING. 

gress of events, soon to be unfolded for consider- 
ation in their regular order. 

The country immediately west of the Blue 
Mountains, at least as far in either direction as it 
could be viewed from the ancient tavern in the 
vicinity of the Gap of iEolus, is exceedingly wild 
and forbidding. A deep and gloomy ravine, 

" Tangled with fern and intricate with thorn," 

interposes between the base of the mountain and 
the partially cultivated land beyond, and the Kit- 
taninny itself is darkly wooded, on that side, to 
its crest. During the first ten miles of the dis- 
tance toward Wyoming, the country is exceed- 
ingly hilly, and for the most part but indifferently 
cultivated — albeit an occasional farm presents an 
exception. Several of the hills are steep, and 
high, and broad. In the direction of Pokono 
Mountain the country becomes more wild and 
rugged — affording, of course, at every turn, and 
from the top of every hill, extensive prospects, and 
ever-changing landscapes, diversified with wood- 
lands, cornfields, farm houses, rocks and glens. 

When the summit of Pokono is attained, the 
traveller is upon the top of that wild and desolate 
table of Pennsylvania, extending for upward of 
a hundred miles, between and parallel with the 
Delaware and Susquehanna rivers, and from twen- 
ty to thirty-five miles in breadth. Behind Iiim is 
a noble landscape of wooded hills and cultivated 
valleys, bounded eastward and south, by the Blue 



HISTORY OE WYOMING. 73 

Mountains, which form a branching range of the 
Alleghanies. The Wind-Gap is distinctly and 
beautifully in sight. But facing westwardly, and 
glancing toward the north, and the south, the 
prospect is as dreary as naked rocks, and shrub 
oaks, and stunted pines, and a death-like solitude 
can make it. The general surface is rough and 
broken, hills rising, and valleys sinking, by fifties, 
if not by hundreds, over tlie whole broad moun- 
tain surface. In many places, for miles, there is 
no human habitation in view, and no one bright 
or cheerful spot upon which the eye can repose. 
The gloom, if not the grandeur, of a large portion 
of this inhospitable region, is increased by the cir- 
cumstance that it is almost a continuous morass, 
across which the turnpike is formed by a cause- 
way of logs, insufficiently covered with earth, and 
bearing the appropriate name of a corduroy road.* 
The next stopping place is in the valley of the 
Tobyhanna, a black looking tributary of the Le- 
hiofh — eio:ht miles. Now and then, sometimes 

CO ' 

at the distance of one mile, and again at the dis- 
tance of three or four, is passed a miserable hu- 
man dwelling : but the country presents the same 
sullen, rude, uncultivable character. From the 
Tobyhanna to Stoddardsville, on the dreary banks 
of the Lehigh itself, is another eight miles of most 
enormous length. There are ravines, and more 

*This route was first cut through by General Sullivan, for the passage of 
hie army in the celebrated campaign against the country of the Six Nations) 
in 1779. 

7 



74 HISTORY OF WYOMING. 

gentle valleys, but they are not fertile. There are 
hills, but they are sterile and forbidding — shag- 
ged with brambles, or destitute of all comely veg- 
etation. The waters of the Lehigh, oozing from 
fens and marshes, are dark and angry as the Styx. 
The axes of the lumbermen, and the fires repeat- 
edly kindled to sweep over the mountains by the 
ruthless hunters, have long since destroyed the 
native forest-pines ; and in their stead the whole 
country has been covered with dwarfs — oak and 
pine — among which, standing here and there in 
blackened solitude, may be seen the scathed trunk 
of a yet unfallen primitive. In the contemplation 
of such an impracticable mass of matter as this 
extended mountain range presents, one cannot 
but apply the language of Dr. Johnson relative to 
some portions of the highlands of Scotland, who 
characterizes it as matter which has apparently 
been the fortuitous production of the fighting ele- 
ments ; matter, incapable of power and usefulness, 
dismissed by nature from her care, or quickened 
only by one sullen power of useless vegetation. 



CHAPTER II. 

VVilkesbarre — The landscape — Indian names of Wyoming — The Dola- 
warcs and their origin — Ancient remains — The Shawanese sent lo Wyo- 
ming — Kelations between the Delawares and Six Nations — Indian Coun- 
cil at Philadelphia, in 1742 — Canassateego — his speech — The Delawares 
driven to Wyoming — Tradition of the Delawares respecting their submis- 
sion to the Six Nations — Refutation by General Harrison. 

The first glance into the far-famed Valley of Wy- 
oming, travelling westwardly, is from the brow of 
the Pokono mountain range, below which it lies 
at the depth of a thousand feet, distinctly defined 
by the double barrier of nearly parallel mountains, 
between which it is embosomed. There is a beet- 
ling precipice upon the verge of the eastern bar- 
rier, called "Prospect Rock," from the top of which 
nearly the entire valley can be surveyed at a sin- 
gle view, forming one of the richest and most 
beautiful landscapes upon which the eye of man 
ever rested. Through the centre of the valley 
flows the Susquehanna, the winding course of 
which can be traced the whole distance. Several 
green islands slumber sweetly in its embrace, while 
the sight revels amidst the garniture of fields and 
woodlands, and to complete the picture, low in the 



76 HISTORY OF WYOMING. 

distance may be dimly seen the borough of Wilkes- 
Barre* ; especially the spires of its churches. 

The hotel at which the traveller rests in Wilkes- 
barre is upon the margin of the river, the waters 
of which are remarkably transparent and pure, ex- 
cepting in the seasons of the spring and autumnal 
floods. But a few rods above a noble bridge spans 
the river, leading from Wilkesbarre to the opposite 
town of Kingston. From the observatory of the 
hotel a full view of the whole valley is obtained — 
or rather, in a clear atmosphere, the steep wild 
mountains, by which the valley is completely shut 
in, rise on every hand with a distinctness which 
accurately defines its dimensions, — while the val- 
ley itself, especially on the western, or opposite side 
of the river, presents a viev/ of several small towns, 
or scattered villages, planted along, but back from 
the river, at the distance of a few miles apart, — 
the whole intervening and contiguous territory 
beins: divided into farms, and orardens. with fruit 
and ornamental trees. Comfortable farm-houses 
are thickly studded over the valley ; among which 
are not a few more aml)itious dwellings, denoting 
by their air, and the disposition of their grounds, 
both wealth and taste. Midway through the val- 
ley winds the river, its banks adorned with grace- 
ful and luxuriant foliage, and disclosing at every 
turn some bright spot of beauty. On the eastern 

* Tins compound was formed, and bestowed upon this borough as its 
name, in honour of John Wilkes and Colonel Barre — names famous in tho 
anuals of British politics at the time when it was planted by the whites. 



HISTORY OF WYOMING. 77 

side, in the rear of the borough, and for a few miles 
north, the dead level of the valley is rendered still 
more picturesque, by being broken into swelling 
elevations and lesser valleys, adorned in spots with 
groves and clumps of trees, with the ivy and other 
creeping parasites, as upon the river's brink, cling- 
ing to their branches and adding beauty to the 
graceful foliage. The village or borough of Wilkes- 
barre, so far as the major part of the buildings are 
to be taken into the account, is less beautiful than 
it might be. Nevertheless there are a goodly num- 
ber of well built and genteel houses, to which, and 
the pleasant gardens attached, the pretty couplet 
of the poet might be applied : — 

Tall trees o'ershade them, creepers fondly grace 
Lattice and porch, and sweetest flowers embrace. 

The people are for the most part the sons and 
daughters of New-England, and have brought with 
them into this secluded region the simple manners 
and habits, and the piety of their fathers. 

This valley of Wyoming is rich in its historical 
associations, even of days long preceding the events 
of the American revolution, which were the occa- 
sion of its consecration in the deathless song pre- 
fixed to the present narrative. The length of the 
valley, from the Lackawannock Gap, where the 
Susquehanna plunges into it through a narrow de- 
file of high rocky mountains at the north, to a like 
narrow pass called the Nanticoke Gap, at the south, 
is nearly twenty miles — averaging about three 
miles in width. As already mentioned, it is walled 
7* 



78 HISTORY OF -WYOMING. 

in by ranges of steep mountains of about one thou- 
sand feet in height upon the eastern side, and eight 
hundred feet upon the western. These mountains 
are very irregular in their formation, having eleva- 
ted points, and deep ravines, or openings, which are 
called gaps. They are in general yet as wild as 
when discovered, and are clothed with pines, dwarf 
oaks and laurels, interspersed with other descrip- 
tions of woods — deciduous and eversfreen. 

Like many other places of which the red man 
has been dispossessed, and which may previously 
have belonged to different clans or tribes of the 
same race, this valley has been known by a vari- 
ety of names. By the Lenelenoppes, or Delawares, 
its original proprietors, so far as its history is 
known, the valley was called Maugh-ioaii-wa-me^ 
or The Large Meadows. The Five Nations, who 
conquered it from the Delawares, called it tS^gah- 
on-to-wa-Jio, or The Large Flats. The early 
German missionaries, Moravians, catching the 
sound as nearly as they could, wrote the name ik/'- 
chioeiiivami. Other corruptions and pronuncia- 
tions succeeded, anlong which were Wiomic^ Wa- 
jomic/c, Wf/o?)iin/Cj and lastly Wyoming^ which 
will not soon be changed. 

The territory forming the states of Pennsylvania, 
New- Jersey, Delaware, and part of Maryland, was 
principally in the occupancy of the Lenelenoppes, 
consisting of many distinct tribes and sub-divi- 
sions, at the time of the settlement of the country 
by the Europeans. The name Delaware was 



HISTORY OF WYOMING. 79 

given them by the English, after the name they 
had bestowed upon the river along which their 
larger towns were situated, in honour of Lord De 
la Warr* There were indeed clans or military 
colonies of the Aquanuschioni,or "United People;' 
the Maquas or Mengwes of the Datch, and the Iro- 
quois of the French, but chiefly known in Amer- 
ican history as the Five, and afterward the Six 
Nations, already among them, both within the ter- 
ritory now forming New- Jersey and Pennsylvania. 
But these were not large, and the Lenelenoppes, 
or Original People^ as the name denotes, com- 
posed the great majority. f 

It is said by those who are skilled in Indian re- 
searches, that the Lenelenoppes, although claim- 
ing thus to be the original people, were not original- 
ly the occupants of the country in the possession of 
which they were found ; but that they came hither 
from toward the setting sun — that terra incognita 
" the great west." According to their own tradi- 
tions, when on their way they found strong na- 
tions, having regular military defences, in the 
country of the Mississippi, whom they conquered. 
Pursuing their course toward the east, Ihey took 
possession of the sea coast from the Hudson river 
to the Potomac, including the country of the Dela- 



* The [ndian name of the Delaware was Maku-isk-kiskan. 

■f The Lenelenoppes, at that time, consisted of the Assumpinks, Rankokas, 
(Ln.mikas, or Chickaquaas,) Andastakas, Neshaminies, Shackmaxons, Man-- 
tas, Minisinks, and Mandes ; and within what is now Nevv-Jersey, the Narra- 
licongs, Capitinasscs, Gachcos, Munseyg, and Pomptons. — Vide Proud's 
Pennsylvania. 



80 HISTORY OF WYOMING. 

ware and Susquehanna rivers, to their sources. 
In the allotment of their newly acquired territory, 
one of their tribes, the Mnnseys, or Minisinks, 
planted themselves in the region between the 
Kittatinnunk,* or Blue Mountains, and the Sus- 
quehanna. One large division of their tribe kin- 
dled their council fire at Minisink, and another in 
the valley of Wyoming — formerly occupied by 
the Susquehannocks, — once a powerful nation 
which had been exterminated by the Aquanuschi- 
oni. Whether there be any just foundation for 
the legends of the Delawares, as to their battles 
and conquests over a people so far in advance of 
themselves in the art of war as to have reared 
strong and extensive military works, or not, it is 
nevertheless certain, from the character and extent 
of the tumuli existing in the valley of Wyoming 
when taken possession of by the pale faces, and 
from the fact that large oaks were growing upon 
some of the mounds, that the country, centuries 
before, had been in the possession of a race of men 
far in advance of the Delawares in the arts of civ- 
ilization and war. 

There was a time when the Shawanese Indians, 
who had been driven from their own country, in 
what is now Georgia and Florida, by a nation or 
nations more powerful than themselves, occupied, 
by permission, a portion of territory at the forks of 
the Delaware ; but finding them to be troublesome 

* Anolhcr variation in the orthography of these mountains. 



HISTORY OF WYOMING. 81 

neighbours, the Delawares, then in their gi'eatest 
numbers residing farther down the river, com- 
pelled them to remove — assigning to their use the 
valley of Wyoming, (whence the Munseys had re- 
tired back to the Delaware,) and a portion of the 
territory farther down the Susquehanna, at Sha- 
mokin. Thither the Shawanese removed — plant- 
ing themselves anew at both points. In Wyoming 
they built their town upon the west side of the 
river, below the present town of Kingston, upon 
what are to this day called the Shawanese Flats. 
It is difficult to determine the question as to 
the exact relations subsisting between the Dela- 
wares and the Five Nations, at the period under 
consideration. The latter, it is well known, had 
carried their arms south to the Tennessee, and 
claimed the jurisdiction of the entire country from 
the Sorel, in Canada, south of the Great Lakes, to 
the junction of the Ohio with the Mississippi, and 
to the Atlantic coast, from the Santee to the estu- 
ary of the Hudson, by the right of conquest. Over 
tlie Delawares they claimed, and, at times, exer- 
cised, sovereign power, in the most dictatorial 
and arbitrary manner, although the venerable and 
excellent ireckewelder, ever the champion of the 
Delawares, labours hard to show that the lat- 
ter were never conquered by them. Brant, the 
celebrated Mohawk chieftain, than whose au- 
thority there is none better upon such a subject, 
in a letter to the Rev. Dr. Miller of Princeton, 
never yet published, claimed but a quasi sove- 



82 HISTORY OF WYOMING. 

reignty for the Aquanuschioni over the Dela- 
wares. But there was a transaction in 1742, 
which shows that the latter were at that time in 
a situation of the most abject subordination to the 
Six Nations ;* and Proud says this confederacy 
" had held sovereignty over all the Indians, both 
in Pennsylvania and the neighbouring provinces, 
for a long series of years."f Though apparently 
a digression, yet the transaction referred to is 
nevertheless intimately connected with the histo- 
ry of Wyoming, and a rapid review of the inci- 
dent referred to cannot be out of place. 

In the summer of 1742, an Indian council was 
convened in Philadelphia, upon the invitation of 
Lieutenant Governor George Thomas, at that 
time administerins: the gfovernment of the Pro- 
prietaries, as William Penn and his successors 
were styled. The council was numerously at- 
tended, large delegations being present from each 
of the Six Nations, excepting the Senecas. Of 
these there were but three chiefs at the council — 
that nation having been prevented sending a 
stronger deputation by reason of a famine in their 
country, '' so great that a father had been com- 
pelled to sacrifice a part of his family, even his 
own children, for the support and preservation of 

* Early in the eighteenth century the Five Nations were increased to Six, 

by the addition of tlie Tuscaroras, from North Carolina. The Five Nations 

adopted and transplanted them on account of a similarity in their language 

to their own, inducing the belief that they were originally of the same stock. 

t Proud's Pennsylvania, vol. ii. p. 293. 



HISTORY OF WYOMING. 83 

himself and the other part."* There seem like- 
wise to have been no Mohawks present.f But 
the Delawares, several tribes of them, were repre- 
sented. The chief object for the convocation of 
this council was " to kindle a new fire," and 
"strengthen the chain of friendship " with the In- 
dians, in anticipation of a war with France- Oth- 
er subjects were brought before the council for 
consideration. Among them, the Governor pro- 
duced a quantity of goods — being, as he remark- 
ed in his speech, a balance due the Indians for a 
section of the valley of the Susquehanna, "on 
both sides of the river," which had been purchased 
of the Six Nations six years before. Canassatee- 
go, a celebrated Onondaga chief, who was the 
principal speaker on the part of the Indians dur- 
ing the protracted sittings of the council, recog- 
nised the sale of the land. But in the course of 
their discussions, he took occasion to rebuke the 
whites for trespassing upon the unceded lands 
northward of the Kittochtinny Hills, and also up- 
on the Juniata. " That country," said Canassa- 
teego, " belongs to us, in right of conquest ; we 
havinof bousfht it with our blood, and taken it 
from our enemies in fair war." J 

* Opening speech of Governor Tboraas to the Six Nations. Vide Colden'8 
Canada, Appendix, p. 59. 

t To illustrate, in part, the changes which Indian names undergo, in the 
process of writing them by different hands, it may be noted that at this coun- 
cil, Onondagas was spelt Onontorros ; Cayugas, Caiyoquoa ; Oneidas, ^noy- 
ints ; Senecas, Jenontowanos ; Tuscaroras, Tuscaroros. 

tin regard to this complaint of the encroachments of the white settlers 
upon their lands, it appears that it had been preferred before. Gov. Thomas, 



84 HISTORY OF WYOMING. 

This, however, was not the principal transac- 
tion of the council establishing the fact that the 
Six Nations were in the exercise of absolute pow- 
er over the Delawares. On the fourth day of the 
council, the acting Governor called the attention 
of the Six Nations to the conduct of " a branch of 
their cousins, the Delawares," in regard to a sec- 
tion of territory, at the Forks of the river, which 
the Proprietaries had purchased of them fifty-five 
years before, but from which the Indians had re- 
fused to remove. The consequence had been a 
series of unpleasant disturbances between the 
white settlers and the red-men ; and as the latter 
were ever prompt in calling upon the Proprie- 
taries to remove white intruders from their lands, 
the acting Governor now in turn called upon the 
Six Nations to remove those Indians from the 
lands at tiie Forks, which had been purchased 
and paid for in good faith such a long while ago. 

After three days' consideration, the Indians 
came again into council, when Canasseteego 
opened the proceedings by saying that they had 
carefully examined the case, and " had seen with 
their own eyes," that their cousins had been " a 
very unruly people," and were " altogether in the 
wrong." They had therefore determined to re- 
move them. Then turning to the Delawares, and 

in reply, stated tliat the Proprietaries had endeavoured to prevent those intra • 
sions, and had sent magistrates expressly to remove them. To which Ca- 
nasseteego rejoined — "They did not do their duty ; so far from removing 
tho people, they leagued with the trespassers, and made surveys for them- 
selves !" Tliua has it been with the poor Indians always. 



HISTORY OF WYOMING. 85 

holding a belt of wampum in his hand, he spoke 
to them as follows : 

" Cousins ! Let this belt of wampum serve to 
chastise you ! You ought to be taken by the hair 
of the head and shaken severely, till you recover 
your senses and h&eome sober. You don't know 
what ground you stand on, nor what you are do- 
ing. Our brother Onas's* cause is very just and 
plain, and his intentions are to preserve friend- 
ship. On the other hand, your cause is bad ; 
your heart far from being upright ; and you are 
maliciously bent to break the chain of friendship 
with our brother Onas, and his people. We have 
seen with our eyes a deed signed by nine of your 
ancestors above fifty years ago, for this very land, 
and a release signed, not many years since, by 
some of yourselves and chiefs now living, to the 
number of fifteen or upward. But how came 
you to take upon you to sell land at all ? We 
conquered you ; we made women of you ; you 
know you are women, and can no more sell land 
than women. Nor is it fit you should have the 
power of selling lands, since you would abuse it. 
This land that you claim has gone through your 
bellies ; you have been furnished with clothes, 
meat and drink, by the goods paid you for it ; 
and now you want it again, like children — as you 
are ! But what makes you sell land in the dark? 

* Onasy in the Indian tongue, signifies Pen, and was the name by which 
they always addressed the Governors of Pennsylvania, in honour of its foun- 
der. 

8 



86 HISTORY OF WYOMING. 

Did you ever tell us that you had sold this land ? 
Did we ever receive any part, even the value of 
a pipe-shank, from you for it ? You have told 
us a blind story,* that you sent a messenger to 
us to inform us of the sale ; but he never came 
among us, nor did we even hear any thing about 
it. This is acting in the dark, and very different 
from the conduct our Six Nations observe in the 
sales of land. On such occasions they give pub- 
lic notice, and invite all the Indians of their Uni- 
ted Nations, and give them all a share of the 
presents they receive for their lands. This is the 
behaviour of the wise United Nations. But we 
find you are none of our blood : you act a dis- 
honest part, not only in this, but in other matters: 
your ears are ever open to slanderous reports 
about your brethren : you receive them with as 
much greediness as lewd women receive the em- 
braces of bad men. And for these reasons, we 
charge you to remove instantly. We don't orive 
you the liberty to think about it. You are wo- 
men. Take the advice of a wise man, and re- 
move immediately. You may return to the other 
side of the Delaware, where you came from. But we 
do not know whether, considering how you have 
demeaned yourselves, you will be permitted to 
live there ; or whether you have not swallowed 
that land down your throats, as well as the land 
on this side. We therefore assign you two places 

* Referring, probably, to explanations the Dclawarcs had attempted to give 
in their private consultations. 



HISTORY OF WYOMING. 87 

to go to — either to Wyoming, or Shamokin. 
You may go to either of these places, and then we 
shall have you more under our eye, and shall see 
how you behave. Don't deliberate, but remove 
away, and take this belt of wampum." 

This speech having been translated into Eng- 
lish, and also into the Delaware tongue, Canassa- 
teego took another string of wampum, and pro- 
ceeded : — 

"Cousins ! After our just reproof and absolute 
order to depart from the land, you are now to 
take notice of what we have farther to say to you. 
This string of wampum serves to forbid you, 
your children and grand-children, to the latest 
posterity, forever, meddling with land affairs. 
Neither you, nor any that shall descend from you, 
are ever hereafter to presume to sell any land : 
for which purpose you are to preserve this string 
in memory of what your uncles have this day 
given you in charge. We have some other busi- 
ness to transact with our brethren, and therefore 
depart the council, and consider what has been 
said to you."* 

* Canassateego was famous as an orator and counsellor among the Onon- 
dagas, and his counsels and memory were cherished by the people of the Six 
Nations, for a long number of years. Dr. Franklin has somewhere related an 
amusing anecdote of him, the point of which lies in the circumstance of his 
visiting Albany once, to sell his furs, and going to church with Hans Jansen. 
the merchant to whom he expected to sell them. Canassateego took it into 
his head, during the service, that the minister was preaching about him and 
his furs. And he was confirmed in this opinion after church, from the fact 
that Jansen offered him six pence per pound less, than he had done before 
the service. Everybody else, moreover, to whom he afterward offered to sell 
his furs, would only give him three and sLxpence per pound after church, in- 



88 HISTORY OF WYOMING. 

There was no diplomatic mincing of words in 
the speech of the Onondaga chieftain. He spoke 
not only with the blimtness of unsophisticated 
honesty, but with the air of one having authority, 
nor dared the Delawares to disobey his peremp- 
tory command. They immediately left the coun- 
cil, and soon afterward removed from the disput- 
ed territory — some few of them to Shamokin,* 
but the greater portion to Wyoming. The whole 
tenour of the speech, moreover, goes to establish 
the fact that the Delawares were the depend- 
ants — indeed the abject subjects — of the Aqua- 
nuschioni, or Mengwe, as the Six Nations have 
been frequently called by modern writers. But 
the questions how, and at what time, the Lenele- 
noppes were brought into such a humiliating con- 
dition, cannot be answered with precision. The 
Delawares themselves pretend that they were be- 
guiled into a surrender of their national and poli- 
tical manhood, and Mr. Heckewelder has attempt- 
stead of four shillinjTs per pound, as Iiad been oflTererl before. The old chief 
therefore concluded that the minister had been preaching down the price of 
bis beaver-skins, and he had no good opinion of the "black coats" after- 
ward. It is stated by some authoritios, that he was accompanied by two 
hundred and thirty warriors on his visit to Philadelphia to attend the coun- 
cil spoken of in the text. 

♦Shamokin was an Indian town at the junction of the cast and west 
branches of the Susquehanna, sixty miles below Wyoming. It was a sort of 
military colony of the Six Nations, and the residence of;he celebraied Cay- 
uga chief Shickcalamy, or ShikeUimus, the father of the yet more celebrated 
Logan, the chief who has been immortalized by Mr. Jefferson in his Notes on 
Virginia. Shamokin stood upon the site of the present town of Northuraber. 
land, where Dr. Priestley spent the latter days of his life, and died. Logan 
was named after James Logan, the companion of Penn — a learned man — 
for a long time secretary of the colony, and greatly beloved by the ludians. 



HISTORY OF WYOMING. 89 

ed to sustain the pretension. According to their 
tradition, the Mengwe and Lenelenoppes had long 
been at war, and the advantages were with the 
latter, until for their own common safety the 
league of the Five Nations was formed. Strength- 
ened by this union, the fortunes of war began to 
turn in their favour — especially as they were 
soon afterward supplied with fire-arms by the 
Dutch, who were now engaged in colonizing the 
country of the Hudson river. By the aid of fire- 
arms the Mengwe were enabled for a time to con- 
tend both with the Lenelenoppes and their new 
enemies on the north — the French ; but finding 
themselves at length severely pressed, they hit 
upon the stratagem by which their older enemy 
was caught with guile, and disarmed by reason 
of his own magnanimity. Among the Indians it 
is held to be cowardly for a warrior to sue for 
peace. Having taken up the hatchet, he must 
retain it, however weary of the contest, until his 
enemy is humbled, or peace restored by some for- 
tuitous means other than a direct application for 
a truce by himself. It is not so, however, with their 
women, who frequently become mediators, else 
their wars would be interminable. They often 
throw themselves as it were between contending 
tribes, and plead for peace with great pathos and 
effect ; for notwithstanding the common opinion 
to the contrary, there is no people on earth among 
whom woman exercises greater influence than she 
does upon the aboriginals of America. <' Not a 
8* 



90 HISTORY OF WYOMING. 

warrior," they would say, on such occasions, — 
" but laments the loss of a son, a brother, or a 
friend. And mothers, who have borne with 
cheerfulness the pangs of child-birth, and the anx- 
iety that waits upon the infancy and ripening ma- 
turity of their sons, behold their promised bles- 
sings laid low upon the war-path, or perishing at 
the stake in unutterable torments." ''In the depth 
of their grief, they curse their wretched existence, 
and shudder at the idea of child-bearing. They 
were wont, therefore, to conjure their warriors, on 
account of their suffering wives, their helpless 
children, their homes and their friends, to inter- 
change forgiveness, to throw down their hatchets, 
and, smoking together the pipe of peace, embrace 
as friends those whom they had regarded only as 
enemies."* Appeals like these would naturally 
find a response, even from the most savage heart ; 
and the Delawares allege that the Six Nations, 
availing themselves of this humane characteristic 
of the Indian race, by artful appeals to their hu- 
manity and benevolence, persuaded them, as the 
only means of saving the red-men from utter ex- 
tinction by reason of their own frequent and bloody 
wars, to assume the character of women, in order 
that they might be qualified to act as general me- 
diators. In reply to their objections, it was urged 
upon them by their dissembling foes, that although 
it would indeed be derogatory for a small and fee- 

* Heckcwclder, and Gordon's History of Pennsylvania. 



HISTORY OF WYOMING. 91 

ble nation to assume the feminine character, yet a 
great and strong nation, of approved valour, like 
the Delawares, could not only take that step with 
impunity, but win immortal renown for their 
magnanimity. In an evil hour, and in a moment 
of blind confidence, the Delawares yielded to the 
importunity of the Mengwe, and formally as- 
sumed the petticoat. The ceremony, as the Del- 
awares affirm, was performed at Albany, or rather 
Fort Orange, about the year 1617, in the presence 
of the Dutch garrison — whom they charge as 
having aided the Mengwe in their artful scheme 
to subdue without conquering them. The arro- 
gance of the Six Nations, and the rights which 
they assumed over them of protection and com- 
mand, soon taught the Delawares the extent of 
the treachery that had been practised against 
them. But it was then too late. 

Such is the clumsy manner in which the Del- 
awares endeavour to account for the degraded re- 
lation in which they so long stood in respect to 
the Six Nations. But " Credat Judceus Apellay 
The story of the Six Nations has always been 
consistent upon the subject, viz : that the Dela- 
wares were conquered by their arms, and were 
compelled " to this humiliating concession, as the 
only means of averting impending destruction." 
General William Henry Harrison, after a brief 
rehearsal of the tradition, and the efforts of Mr. 
Heckewelder to establish its triUh, thus summari- 
ly and effectually disposes of the question: — "But 



92 HISTORY OF WYOMING. 

even if Mr . Heckewelder had succeeded in mak- 
ing his readers believe that the Delawares, when 
they submitted to the degradation proposed to 
them by their enemies, were influenced, not by 
fear, but by the benevolent desire to put a stop to 
the calamities of war, he has established for them 
the reputation of being the most egregious dupes 
and fools that the world has ever seen. This is 
not often the case with Indian sachems. They 
are rarely cowards, but still more rarely are they 
deficient in sagacity or discernment to detect any 
attempt to impose upon them. I sincerely wish I 
could unite with the worthy German, in remov- 
ing this stigma upon the Delawares. A long and 
intimate knowledge of them in peace and war, as 
enemies and friends, has left upon my mind the 
most favourable impressions of their character for 
bravery, generosity, and fidelity to their engage- 
ments."* 

* Discourse of Gen. William Flciiry Harrison, on the Aborigines of the Val- 
ley of the Ohio. 



CHAPTER III. 

Arrival of the Delawares at Wyoming — The Nanticokes — The Moravian 
Missions — Count Zinzendorf — The Assassins and the Rattle-snake — 
French and Indian relations — The Grass-hopper War — Shawancse flee 
from Wyoming to the (Jhio — Teedyiiscung chosen chief of the Delawares 
— Removes to Wyoming — Massacre at Gnaddenhutten — Shawanese and 
Delawares join the French — Interposition of the Quakers for the restora- 
tion of peace — Indian Council at Easton — Speech of Teedyuscung — 
Story of Weekquehela — Treaty of peace with Teedyuscung — The embas- 
eies of Christian Frederick Post — Efforts of Sir William Johnson — Equi- 
vocal conduct of the Six Nations — Mistake of the French — General I'eaco 
with the Indians. 

The removal of the Delawares from the Forks 
to Wyomhig was as speedy as the order to that 
end had been peremptory. It has been stated in 
a preceding page, that some years before the Wy- 
oming Yalley had been allotted by the Delawares, 
to a strong clan of the Shawanese. These latter 
had planted themselves upon the flats on the west 
bank of the river ; and on their arrival at the same 
place, the Delawares selected as the site of the 
town they were to build, the beautiful plain on the 
eastern side, nearly or quite opposite to the Shaw- 
anese town, a short distance only below the present 
borough of Wilkesbarre. Here was built the town 
of Maugh-wau-wa-me ; the original of Wyoming. 
Meantime the Nanticoke Indians had removed 



94 HISTORY OF WYOMING. 

from the eastern shore of Maryland to the lower 
part of the Wyoming Yalley, which yet retains 
their name. "Nanticoke Falls" is a rapid on the 
Susquehanna, almost precipitous at one place, 
where tlie river forces its passage through a nar- 
row gorge of the mountains, and escapes from the 
beautiful valley in which it had been lingering for 
upward of twenty miles, into a region wild with 
rock and glen. The Shawanese made no opposi- 
tion to the arrival of their new neighbours. In- 
deed both clans were but tenants at will to the Six 
Nations, and for a season they lived upon terms 
sufficiently amicable. 

It was during the same year that the soil of 
Wyoming was first trodden by the feet of a mis- 
sionary of the Christian religion. The Moravians, 
or "United Brethren," had commenced their mis- 
sions in the new world several years before — in 
Georgia as early as 1734. Their benevolent la- 
bours were extended to Pennsylvania and New- 
York six years afterward. In 1742, their great 
founder and apostle, Count Zinzendorf, visited 
America, to look after their infant missions. He 
arrived at Bethlehem, near the Forks of the Dela- 
ware, in the following year. Affecting represen- 
tations of the deplorable moral condition of the In- 
dians, had reached the count before he left Ger- 
many, and his attention was early directed to their 
situation, and their wants, while visiting the mis- 
sionary stations along the Delaware. He made 
several journies among the Indians deeper in the 



HISTORY OF WYOMING. 95 

interior, and succeeded without difficulty in esta- 
blishing a friendly intercourse with various tribes. 
In one of these journies he plunged through the 
wilderness into the valley of Wyoming, for the 
purpose of establishing a missionary post in the 
town of the Shawanese. It was here, during the 
autumn of that year, that one of those beautiful 
and touching incidents occurred, which add a 
charm to the annals of the missionary enterprise. 
The count had expected to be accompanied by 
an interpreter, celebrated in all the Indian nego- 
tiations for many years of that age, named Con- 
rad Weiser, whose popularity was equally great 
among the Indians of all nations by whom he was 
known. But Weiser was unable to go. Inflexi- 
ble in his purpose, however, the count determined 
to encounter the hazards of the journey, with no 
other companions than a missionary, named Mack, 
and his wife. On their arrival in the valley, they 
pitched their tents on the bank of the river, a short 
distance below the town of the Shawanese ; at that 
period the most distrustful and savage of the Penn- 
sylvania Indians. A council was called to hear 
their errand of mercy, but the Indians were not 
exactly satisfied as to the real object of such an 
unexpected visit. They knew the rapacity of the 
white people for their lands ; and they thought it 
far more probable that the strangers were bent upon 
surveying the quality of these, than that they were 
encountering so many hardships and dangers, 
without fee or reward, merely for the future well- 



96 HISTORY OF WYOMING. 

being of their souls. Brooding darkly upon the 
subject, their suspicions increased, until they re- 
solved upon the assassination of the count ; for 
which purpose executioners were detailed, who 
were instructed to carry their purpose into effect 
with all possible secrecy, lest the transactions com- 
ing to the ears of the English, should involve them 
in a yet graver difficulty. 

The count was alone in his tent, reclining upon 
a bundle of dry weeds, designed for his bed, and 
engaged in writing, or in devout meditation, when 
the assassins crept stealthily to the tent upon their 
murderous errand. A blanket-curtain, suspended 
upon pins, formed the door of his tent, and by 
gently raising a corner of the curtain, the Indians, 
undiscovered, had a full view of the venerable 
patriarch, unconscious of lurking danger, and with 
the calmness of a saint upon his benignant features. 
They were awe-stricken by his appearance. But 
this was not all. It was a cool night in Septem- 
ber, and the count had kindled a small fire for his 
comfort. Warmed by the flame, a large rattle- 
snake had crept from its covert, and approaching 
the fire for its greater enjoyment, glided harm- 
lessly over one of the legs of the holy man, whose 
thoughts, at the moment, were not occupied upon 
the grovelling things of earth. He perceived not 
the serpent, but the Indians, with breathless atten- 
tion, had observed the whole movement of the poi- 
sonous reptile ; and as they gazed upon the aspect 
and attitude of the count, and saw the serpent of- 



HISTORY OF WYOMING. 97 

fering him no harm, they changed their minds as 
suddenly as the barbarians of Malta did theirs in 
regard to the shipwrecked prisoner who shook the 
viper from his hand without feeling even a smart 
from its venomous fang. Their enmity was im- 
mediately changed into reverence ; and in the be- 
lief that their intended victim enjoyed the special 
protection of the Great Spirit, they desisted from 
their bloodypurpose and retired.* Thenceforward 
the count was regarded by the Indians with the 
most profound veneration. The arrival of Conrad 
Weiser soon afterward afforded every facility for 
free communication with the sons of the forest, 
and the result was the establishment of a mission 
at the place, which was successfully maintained 
for several years, and until broken up by troubles 
as extraordinary in their origin, as they were fatal 
to the Indians engaged in them. 

The treaty of Aix-la-Chapelle, which, in 1748, 
put an end to the French war in Europe, proved 
to be only a truce between France and Great 
Britain ; and from the movements of the former, 
it required no remarkable degree of sagacity to 
foresee that the sword would soon be drawn again, 
and the contest chiefly waged, and perhaps decided, 
in the wild woods of America. It was even so. 



* This interesting incident was not published in the count's memoirs, lest, 
as he states, the world should think that the conversions that followed among 
the Indians were attributable to their superstitions. Mr. Chapman, in his 
history of Wyoming, has preserved the story — having, as he says, received 
it from one who was a companion of the count, and who accompanied him, 
[the author] to Wyoming. 

9 



98 HISTORY OF WYOMING. 

The storm broke forth upon the banks of the 
Ohio in 1754, and was ended on those of the St. 
Lawrence in 1763. Preparatory to this contest, 
the arts of the French, and their Jesuit missiona- 
ries, were all put in requisition to secure the 
friendship and alUance of the Indians. Tlie in- 
fluence of the Jesuits, among the Indians of the 
Ohio and upper lakes, was unbounded ; and the 
Shawanese of the Ohio, always haters of the Eng- 
lish, were easily persuaded to take up the hatchet 
at the first sound of the bugle. In anticipation of 
hostilities, they early invited their brethren, settled 
in the valley of Wyoming to join them. These 
latter were little better disposed toward the Eng- 
lish than their brethren deeper in the woods ; and 
but for the new ties that bound the INIoravian con- 
verts to their church, the invitation would have 
been promptly accepted. 

It was not long, however, before an incident oc- 
curred, which not only sundered their Christian 
relations, but facilitated the removal of all who 
were able to get away. This incident was a sud- 
den out-break of hostilities between this secluded 
clan of the Shawanese, and their Delaware neigh- 
bours on the other side of the river, the immediate 
cause of which was the most trivial that can be 
imagined, and its effects the most bloody, for the 
numbers engaged, of any war, probably, that was 
ever waged. It happened thus : — On a certain 
day, the warriors of both clans being engaged in the 
chase upon the mountains, a party of the Shawa 



HISTORY OF WYOMING. 99 

iiese women and children crossed to the Delaware 
side to gather wild fruit. In this occupation they 
were joined by some of the Delaware squaws, with 
their children. In the course of the day, the har- 
mony of the children was interrupted by a dispute 
respecting the possession of a large grass-hopper, 
probably with parti-coloured wings. A quarrel 
ensued, in which the mothers took part with their 
children respectively. The Delaware women 
being the most numerous, the Shawanese were 
driven home, several being killed upon both sides. 
On the return of their husbands from hunting, the 
Shawanese instantly espoused the cause of their 
wives, and arming themselves, crossed the river to 
give the Delawares battle. The latter were not 
unprepared, and a battle ensued, which was long 
and obstinately contested, and which, after great 
slaughter upon both sides, ended in the defeat of 
the Shawanese, and their expulsion from the val- 
ley. They retired among their more powerful 
brethren on the Ohio, by whom, as already men- 
tioned, they had been invited to remove thither, 
with them to espouse the cause of the French. 

This exploit of the Delawares, becomins: noised 
abroad, went far to relieve them of the reproach 
under which they had so long been lying, of be- 
ing "WOMEN." They were now the principal oc- 
cupants of the valley — entirely so, indeed, with 
the exception of the small community of Nanti- 

cokes who were settled at its lower extremity 

and their numbers were rapidly increased by those 



100 HISTORY OF WYOMING. 

of their own people who were retreating before 
the onward march of civilization in the Minisink 
country of the Delaware. Among these acces- 
sions to their community were many from the vi- 
cinity of Friedenshal, Bethlehem, Guadenthal, 
Nazareth, Nain, and Gnaddenhutten,* the Mora- 
vian settlements in the region of the junction, or 
Forks, of the Delaware and Lehigh. Some of them 
were converts to the Moravian church ; and a 
constant intercourse was thereafter maintained by 
way of what is to this day known as the " Indian 
Walk" across the mountains, between the Indians 
living at and in the vicinity of Gnaddenhutten, 
and those of Wyoming. As the storm of war 
with the French drew near, the Indians in their 
interest began to hover upon the borders of the 
white settlements, and particularly upon those of 
the Delaware tribes, which yet adhered to the in- 
terests of the English. The Delaware chief at 
Wyoming was Tadame, of whom, at this day, but 
little is known. He was however treacherously 
murdered by some of the hostile Indians from the 
northwest ; whereupon a general council of the 
Delawares was convened, and Teedyuscung, of 
whom mention has already been made, was cho- 
sen chief sachem, and duly proclaimed as such. 
He was residing at Gnaddenhutten at the time of 
his advancement, but immediately removed to 
Wyoming, which then became the principal seat 

* " Huts of Mercy," n scttlcinont founded by the Moravians cliiefly for the 
accommodation and protection of tlioso Indians who embraced their faith. 



HISTORY OF WYOMING. 101 

of the Delawares. Not long afterward a small 
fort upon the Lehigh, in the neighbourhood of 
Gnaddenhutten, was surprised by a party of In- 
dians, and white men disguised as such, its little 
garrison massacred, the town of Gnaddenhutten 
sacked and burnt, — manyof its inhabitants, chiefly 
Christian Indians, being slain. Numbers of them 
perished in the flames, while the survivors escap- 
ed and joined their brethren at Wyoming.* 

It was not long after the actual commence- 
ment of hostilities between the English colonists 
aiid the French troops, and their Indian allies 
upon the banks of the Ohio, before Shamokin 
was attacked by the Indians, and the white settle- 
ment destroyed. Fourteen whites were killed, 
several made prisoners, and the houses and farms 
plundered. The Delawares now began to waver 
under the smarting of ancient grievances, and the 
artful appliances and appeals of the French ; and 
with the fall of General Braddock and the de- 
struction of his army, they revolted in a body, 
and went over to the common enemy. They were 
immediately induced to change their relations, 
by the strong assurances of the French that 

* Chapman. It was at about this period of time, according to the same au- 
thor, thattlic Nanticokcs, never particularly friendly to the English, removed 
from Wyoming farther up the river to a place called Chemunk [Chemung?] 
After this removal, hearing that the graves of their fathers, on the eastern 
shore of Maryland, were about being invaded by the plough-shares of the 
pale- faces, they sent a deputation back to their native land, who disinterred 
the remains of their dead, and conveyed them to their new place of residence, 
where they were again buried with all the rites and ceremonies of savage 
sepulture. This is a beautiful instance of filial piety, deserving of remem- 
brance. 

9* 



102 HISTORY OF WYOMING. 

the war was in fact undertaken in their behalf, 
for the purpose of driving away the EngUsh, and 
restoring the red man once more to the full and 
entire possession of the country of which he had 
been robbed.* 

A sanguinary war, upon the borders both of 
Pennsylvania and Virginia, immediately followed 
the secession of the Delawares, and if they were 
"women," in the popular Indian acceptation, be- 
fore, they wielded no feminine arms in the new 
attitude they had so suddenly assumed. Their 
blows fell thick and fast ; their hatchets were red ; 
and their devastations of the frontier settlements 
were frequent and cruel. The storm was as fear- 
ful as it was unexpected to the Pennsylvanians ; 
for however much familiarized Virginia and most 
of the other colonies had become to savao^e war- 
fare, Pennsylvania, until now, had been compar- 
atively and happily exempt. For more than sev- 
enty years a strict amity had existed between the 
early English settlers and their successors in Penn- 
sylvania andNew-Jersey,-]- and the breaking forth 
of the war created the greater consternation on 
that account. 

It appears that the Quakers, — a people, by the 
way, who have at all times manifested a deep so- 
licitude for the welfare of the Indians, and whose 
benevolent principles and gentle manners have, 

* Chapman. Si-c, also, an interesting journal of Christian Frederick Post, 
while ou a pacific mission to the Dcinwares and Sbawaucse, wliich has been 
preserved in the appendix to Proud. 

t Proud. 



HISTORY OF WYOMING. 103 

in all critical emergencies, more than any thing 
else won the red man's confidence, — had pre- 
viously discovered some uneasiness among the 
Indians, connected with certain land questions, 
in respect of which they were not quite clear that 
injustice had not heen done their red brethren of 
the forest. While, therefore, the government was 
making such preparations as it could for the com- 
mon defence, great and persevering efforts were 
made, under the urgent advisement of the Qua- 
kers, to win back the friendship of the Delawares, 
as also that of the Shawanese. It was the opin- 
ion of these good people, as has already been in- 
timated, that in their revolt the Delawares had 
been moved by wrongs, either real or fancied, — 
and if the latter, not the less wrongs to their 
clouded apprehensions, — in regard to some of their 
lands. A pacific mission to the Delawares and 
Shawanese was therefore recommended and strong- 
ly urged by them, and the project was acceded to 
by Governor Morris ; but he refused to set the 
mission on foot until after he had issued a formal 
declaration of war.* Difficulties meantime in- 
creased, and the ravages of the frontiers were con- 
tinued, until the war-path flowed with blood. — 
The influence of Sir William Johnson and of the 
Six Nations, with the Delawares, was invoked by 
the Pennsylvanians, and several of the Chiefs of 



* Memorial of the Quakers to Governor Denny, who had succeeded Mr. 
Morris in the government of the Proprietaries in 1756. See Proud, vol. ii. 
Appendix. 



104 HISTORY OF WYOMING. 

the confederacy, with Colonel Claus, and Andrew 
Montour, Sir AVilliam's Secretary and Interpre- 
ter, visited Philadelphia upon that business.* The 
parent government likewise urged the represen- 
tatives of the Proprietaries to renew their Indian 
negotiations, and if possible arrive at a better un- 
derstanding with them, by defining explicitly the 
lands that had been actually purchased. f 

These pacific dispositions were so far atten- 
ded with success that two Indian councils were 
held at Easton, in the Summer and Autumn of 
1756. The first, however, was so small that it 
broke up without proceeding to business. The 
second, which was holden in November, was 
more successful, although it appears to have been 
confined to the Delawares of the Susquehanna — 
those of that nation who had previously emigrated 
to the Ohio, and the Shawanese, not being repre- 
sented. The council was conducted by Gover- 
nor Denny on the part of the colon^, and by 
Teedyuscung on behalf of the Indians; and he 
appears to have managed his cause with the en- 
ergy of a man, and the ability of a statesman. If 
his people had cowered like cravens before the re- 
bukes of the Six Nations, in the council of 1742, 
their demeanor was far otherwise on this occa- 
sion, t Having, by joining the Shawanese and 

* Memorial of tlio Quakers, already cited. t Chapman. 

t At this council, Teedyuscung insisted upon having a secretary of his own 
sclqction appointed, to take down the proceedings in behalf of the Indians. 
The demand was considered extraordinary, and was opposed by Governor 
Denny. The Delaware chief, however, persisted in liis demand, and it was 



HISTORY OF WYOMING. 105 

the French, thrown off the vassalage of the Six 
Nations, and become an independent, as well 
as a belligerent power, they now met the pale 
faces, and a deputation of the Six Nations who 
were present, with the port and bearing of men. 
On being requested by the Governor to state the 
causes of their uneasiness and subsequent hostili- 
ties, Teedyuscung enumerated several. Among 
them were the abuses committed upon the Indians 
in the prosecution of their trade ; being unjustly 
deprived of portions of their lands ; and the exe- 
cution, long before, in New- Jersey, of a Delaware 
chief, named Wekahelah, for, as the Indians al- 
leged, accidentally killing a white man — a trans- 
action which they said they could not forget.* 



finally acceded to. Teedyuscung therefore appointed Cliarles Thompson, 
Master of the Free Quaker School in Philadelphia, as the Secretary for the 
Indians. This was the same Charles Thompson who was afterward Secreta- 
ry to the Old Congress of the revolution — who was so long continued in 
that station — and who died in the year 1824, aged 94 years — full of years 
and honours. The Indians adopted him and gave him a name signifying — 
"The Man of Truth." 

* Weekwcela, Wekahela, or Weekquehela, was an Indian of great con- 
sideration, both among the Christian and Pagan Indians. He resided, with his 
clan, upon South river, near Shrewsbury, in East Jersey, and lived in a style 
corresponding with that of affluent white men. He had a large farm, which 
was well cultivated and stocked with cattle and horses ; his house was large, 
and furnished after the English manner, with chairs, feather beds, curtains, 
&c., &c. He had also servants, and was the owner of slaves. He likewise 
mingled with good society, and was the guest of governors and other distin- 
guished men. Unfortunately, about the year 1728, Captain John Leonard 
purchased a cedar swamp of some other Indians, which Weekquehela claimed 
as belonging to him. Leonard disregarded his claim, and persisted in occu- 
pying the land. A quarrel ensued, and Weekquehela shot him dead as a 
trespasser — not, however, upon the disputed territory, but while he was walk- 
ing one day in his garden. The chief was arrested by the civil authorities, and 
tried and executed for murder at Amboy. Such is substantially the story as 
related in Smith's History of New-Jersey. The Indians claimed that Week- 



106 HISTORY OF WYOMING. 

When the Governor desired specifications of the 
alleged wrongs in regard to their lands, Teedy- 
uscung replied: — '• I have not far to go for an 
instance. This very ground that is under me, 
(striking it with his foot,) was my land and inheri- 
tance ; and is taken from me by fraud. When I 
say this ground, 1 mean all the land lying between 
Tohiccon Creek and Wyoming, on the river Sus- 
quehanna. 1 have not only been served so in this 
government, but the same thinor has been done to 
me as to several tracts in New-Jersey, over the 
river." AVhen asked what he meant hy fraud j 
Teedyuscung gave him instances of forged deeds, 
under which lands were claimed which the In- 
dians had never sold. •' This," said he, ''is fraud." 
" Also, when one chief has land beyond the river, 
and another chief has land on this side, both 
bounded by rivers, mountains, and springs, which 
cannot be moved, and the Proprietaries, ready to 
purchase lands, buy of one chief what belongs to 
another. This likewise is fraud." He said the 
Delawares had never been satisfied with the con- 
duct of the latter since the treaties of 1737, when 
their fathers sold them the lands on the Delaware. 
He said that although the land sold was to have 
gone only ^^ as far as a man could go in a day 
and a half from Nashamony Creek ^^^ yet the 



quclinla's gun went off by accident ; and tlie Six Nations, in a speech delivered 
at Lancaster in the year 1757, not only atfirmed this, but maintained that the 
Indian went himself and with great grief communicated the circumstance to 
the widow — surrendering himself up voluntarily to the civil authorities. 



HISTORY OF WYOMING. 107 

person who measured the ground, did not icalk^ 
but ran. He was, moreover, as they supposed, to 
follow the winding bank of the river, whereas he 
went in a straight line. And because the Indians 
had been unwilling to give up the land as far as 
the walk extended, the Governor then having the 
command of the English sent for their cousins the 
Six Nations, who had always been hard masters 
to them, to come down and drive them from their 
land. When the Six Nations came down, the 
Delawares met them at a great treaty held at the 
Governor's house in Philadelphia, for the purpose 
of explaining why they did not give up the land ; 
but the English made so many presents to the Six 
Nations, that their ears were stopped. They would 
listen to no explanation ; and Canassateego had 
moreover abused them, and called them women. 
The Six Nations had, however, given to them and 
the Shawanese, the lands upon the Susquehanna 
and the Juniata for hunting grounds, and had so 
informed the Governor ; but notwithstanding this, 
the whites were allowed to go and settle upon 
those lands. * Two years ago, moreover, the Gov- 



* In a speech delivered by one of ihe chiefs of the Six Nations, at a coun- 
cil held with them at Lancaster, in 1757, this assertion of Teedy^scung was 
confirmed, as follows : — " Brothers : You desired us to open our hearts, and 
inform you of every thing we know, that might give rise to the quarrel be- 
tween you and our nephews and brothers : — That, in former times our fore- 
fathers conquered the Delawares, and put petticoats on them ; a long timo 
after that they lived among you, our brothers ; but upon some difference be- 
tween you and them, we thought proper to remove them, giving them lands 
plant and to hunt on, at fVyoming and Juniata, on the Susquehanna ; but you, 
covetous of land, made plantations there, and spoiled their hunting grounds ; 



108 HISTORY OF AVYOMING. 

ernor had been to Albany to buy some land of the 
Six Nations, and had described their purchase by 
points of comjmss^ which the Indians did not 
understand, including lands both upon the Juni- 
ata and the Susquehanna, which they did not 
intend to sell. When all these things were known 
to the Indians, they declared they would no longer 
be friends to the English, who were trying to get 
all their country away from them. He however 
assured the council that they were nevertheless 
glad to meet their old friends the English again, 
and to smoke the pipe of peace with them. He 
also hoped that justice would be done to them for 
all the injuries they had received."* 

The council continued nine days, and Governor 
Denny appears to have conducted himself with so 
much tact and judgment, as greatly to conciliate 
the good will of the Indians. By his candid and 
ingenuous treatment of them, as some of the 
Mohawks afterwards expressed it, "he put his 
hand into Teedyuscung's bosom, and was so suc- 
cessful as to draw out the secret, which neitlier 
Sir William Johnson nor the Six Nations could 
do."t The result was a reconciliation of the Del- 
awares of the Susquehanna with the English, and 



tlicy then complained to us, and wc looked over those lands, and found their 
complaints to be true." 

* In the outline of this speech, I have quoted Proud, but chiefl}' followed 
Chapman, who lias given the most particular account of this council with 
which I have met. He, however, mistoerk in supposing it to be a general 
council, and that the Ohio Indians were included in the peace. 

t Memorial of the Quakers to Governor Denny. 



HISTORY OF WYOMING. 109 

a treaty of peace, upon the basis that Teedyuscung 
and his people were to be allowed to remain upon 
the Wyoming lands, and that houses were to be built 
for them by the Proprietaries.* There were, how- 
ever, several matters left unadjusted, although the 
Governor desired that every difficulty should then 
be discussed, and every cause of complaint, as far 
as he possessed the power, be removed. But Teedy- 
uscung replied that he was not empowered, at the 
present time, to adjust several of the questions 
of grievance that had been raised, nor were all the 
parties interested properly represented in the coun- 
cil. He therefore proposed the holding of another 
council in the following spring, at Lancaster. This 
proposition was acceded to ; and many Indians 
collected at the time and place appointed. Sir 
William Johnson despatched a deputation of the 
Six Nations thither, under the charge of Colonel 
Croghan, the Deputy Superintendent of the Indians ; 
but for some reason unexplained, neither Teedy- 
uscung nor the Delawares from W^yoming attended 
the council, though of his own appointment. Col. 
Croghan wrote to Sir William, however, that the 
meeting was productive of great good in checking 
the war upon the frontier ; and in a speech to Sir 
William, delivered by the Senecas in June follow- 
ing, they claimed the credit, by their mediation, of 
the partial peace that had been obtained. The 
conduct of Teedyuscung on that occasion was 



Jouraal of Christian Frederick Post — note by Proud. 

10 



no HISTORY OF WYOMING. 

severely censured by Sir William, in a speech to 
the Onondagas, Cayugas, and Senecas ; and the 
latter were charged by the baronet to take the sub- 
ject in hand, and " talk to him," and should they 
find him in fault, " make him sensible of it."* 

But the Delawares and the Shawanese of the 
Alleghany and Ohio were yet upon the war-path, 
and although the horrors of the border warfare were 
somewhat mitigated by the peace with Tcedyus- 
cung, they were by no means at an end. More 
especially were the frontiers of Virginia exposed 
to the invasions of the Shawanese. Efforts for a 
more general pacification were therefore continued, 
under the auspices of the Gluakers. But the 
French were strongly posted at Yenango and Fort 
Du Q^uesne ; and they were assiduous and plausi- 
ble in cultivating the friendship of the Indians, 
and lavish in their presents. It was consequently 
a difficult matter to obtain access to the Indian 
towns thickly studding the more western rivers, 
or to induce the tribes to open their ears to any body 
but the French. 

A most fitting and worthy agent to bear a mes- 
sage of peace to those Indians, was, however, 
found in the person of Christian Frederick Post 
He was a plain, honest German, of the Moravian 
sect, who had resided seventeen years with the 
Indians, a part of which period had been passed 
in the valley of Wyoming, and he had twice mar- 

* Manuscripts of Sir William Johnson in tho author's possession. 



HISTORY OF WYOMING. Ill 

ried among them. He was therefore well ac- 
quainted with the Indian character, and was inti- 
mately known to many, both Shawanese and De- 
lawares, who had also resided at Wyoming. The 
service required of him was alike severe and 
arduous. A dreary wilderness Avas to be traversed, 
ravines threaded and mountains scaled ; and when 
these obstacles were surmounted, even if he did not 
meet with a stealthy enemy before, witli his life 
in his hand he was to throw himself into the heart 
of an enemy's country — and that enemy as trea- 
cherous and cruel, when in a state of exasperation, 
as ever civilized man has been doomed to en- 
counter. But Christian Frederick Post entered 
upon the perilous mission with the courage and 
spirit of a Christian. Accompanied by two or 
three Indian guides, he crossed the rivers and 
mountains twice in the summer and autumn of 
1758, visited many of the Indian towns, passed 
and repassed the French fort at Venango, and held 
a council with the Indians almost under the guns 
of Fort Du Q,uesne, where was a garrison, at that 
time, of about ten thousand men. Sar the greater 
part of the Indians received him with friendship, 
and his message of peace with gladness. They 
had such perfect confidence in his integrity and 
truth, that every effort of the French to circum- 
vent him was unavailing. They kept a captain 
and more than fifteen soldiers hanging about him 
for several days, watching his every movement, 
and listening to all that was said ; and various 



112 HISTORY OF WYOMING. 

schemes were devised at first to make him pri- 
soner, and ultimately to take his life ; but al- 
though one of his own guides had a forked tongue, 
and was seduced from him at fortDu Quesne, yet 
the Indians upon whom he had thrown himself, 
with so much confidence and moral courage, 
interposed for his counsel and protection in every 
case of danger, and would not allow a hair of his 
head to be injured. He was charged with messa- 
ges both from Teedyuscung and Governor Denny. 
To the former they would not listen for a mo- 
ment. Indeed that chieftain seemed to be the ob- 
ject of their strong dislike, if not of their positive 
hate. They would therefore recognise nothing 
that he had done at Easton ; but they received 
the messages of the Governor with the best possible 
feeling. It was evident from all their conversa- 
tions with Christian Post, whose Journal is as art- 
less as it is interesting, that they had been deceived 
by the representations of the French, and deluded 
into a belief that, while it was the intention of the 
English to plunder them of all their lands, the 
French were#themselves actuated solely by the 
benevolent motive of driving the English back 
across the water, and restoring the Indians to all 
the possessions which the Great Spirit had given 
them.* Convinced by Post of the fraud that had 



• In tho course of the speech by one of the Six Nations, delivered at 
the Council at Lancaster in 1757, cited in a preceding note, it was said in re- 
ference to tho influence which the French had acquired over the Delawares 
and Shawancse : " At this time our cousins the Delawares carried on a cor- 



HISTORY OF WYOMING. 113 

been practised upon their understandings, their 
yearnings for peace gathered intensity every day. 
Several times, during his conversations with the 
chiefs of different towns, as he undeceived them 
in reofard to the real designs of the French, their 
minds seemed filled with melancholy perplexity. 
A conviction of what was not wide of the truth, 
flashed upon them, and once at least, the apprehen- 
sion was uttered, that it was but a struggle between 
the English and French, which should possess 
their whole country, after the Indians had been 
exterminated between them. " Why do not the 
great kings of England and France," they inquir- 
ed, " do their fighting in their own country, and 
not come over the great waters to fight on our 
hunting grounds ?" The question was too deep 
for honest Christian Frederick Post to answer. 
However, the inclination of the Indians was deci- 
dedly toward the English, and the result of his 
second embassy, in the autumn of 1758, after en- 
countering fresh difliculties and dangers, was a 
reconciliation with the Indians of the Ohio coun- 
try, in consequence of which the French were 
obliged to abandon the whole of that territory to 

respondcnce with the French ; by which means the French became acquaint- 
ed with all the causes of complaint they had against you ; and as your people 
were daily incroaching their settlements, by these means you drove them 
back into the arms of the French; and they took the advantage of spiriting 
them up against you, by telling them, ' Children, you see, and we have often 
told you, how the English., your brothers, would serve you ; they plant all the 
country, and drive you back ; so that in a little time, you will have no land .' 
it is not so with us ; though wc build trading-houses on your land, we do aot 
plant it, we have our provisions from over the great water.' " 

10* 



114 HISTORY OF WYOMING. 

General Forbes, after destroying with their own 
hands the strong fortress of Dn diiesne. 

Great, however, as was the influence of Chris- 
tian Frederick Post with the western Delawares 
and Shawanese, he is by no means entitled to 
the entire credit of bringing about a peace. The 
efforts of Sir William Johnson were incessantly 
directed to the same end, and were not without 
their effect. The fact was, the French were 
omitting no exertions to win the Six Nations 
from their alliance with the English. In this de- 
sign they were partially successful, and the Brit- 
ish Indian Superintendent, great as was his influ- 
ence with the red men, had his hands full to pre- 
vent the mass of the Six Nations from deserting 
him, during the years 1756 and 1757, and join- 
ing the French. True, the Mohawks, Oneidas 
and Tuscaroras maintained their allegiance to the 
British crown, and were not backward upon the 
war-path ; but the Onondagas, Cayugas and Se- 
necas, against the strongest remonstrances of Sir 
William, declared themselves neutral ; while large 
numbers of the Senecas and Cayugas actually 
took up the hatchet with the western Indians, in 
alliance with the French.* 

The defection probably would have been great- 
er, but for circumstances that occurred at Fort 
Du Quesne, late in the year 1757, and in the be- 
ginning of the following year. These circum- 

* MSS. of Sir William Johnson. 



HISTORY OF WYOMING. 116 

Stances, which will be presently explained, while 
they evinced the absence, for a time, of the usual 
tact and sagacity of the French, had admirably 
opened the way for Christian Post's mission, while 
they had the effect of at once relievinor Sir William 
Johnson from his embarrassing position in regard 
to the equivocal attitude of three of the Six Na- 
tions. It has been seen that Sir William had in- 
terposed, not only directly but through the means 
of some of his Indians, in producing the partial 
peace with the Delawares and Teedyuscung. The 
baronet had also succeeded in forming an alli- 
ance with the Cherokees, some of whom had gone 
upon the war-path in the neighbourhood of Fort 
Du duesne. They were likewise exerting them- 
selves to detach the western Indians, as far as 
might be, from the French.* 

It was in this posture of affairs that, late in the 
year 1757, a war-party of the Twightwees, (Mi- 
amies,) in a frolic close by the fortress of Du 
Gluesne, killed a number of the cattle belonging to 
the French in the fort. In a moment of exaspe- 
ration, without pausing to reflect upon the conse- 
quences, the French fired upon the aggressors, 
and killed some ten or twelve of their number. 
The Twightwees were deeply incensed at this 
outrage, and the western Indians sympathized at 
the loss of their braves. It was not long, proba- 
bly, before their resolution was taken, not only to 

* MSS. of Sir William Johnson. 



116 HISTORY OF WYOMING. 

withdraw from tlie French service, but to avenge 
the untimely fall of their warriors.* 

While the Twiorhtwees were thus broodinor over 
this wrong, the Delawares intercepted a French 
despatch, in which the project was proposed and 
discussed, of cutting off and utterly exterminating 
the Six Nations — forming, as they did, so strong 
a barrier between the French and English colo- 
nies. The Indians found some one among them 
to read the document, and they no sooner under- 
stood its full purport, than they repaired to the 
fortress in a body, and charged the project home 
upon the commander. That officer was either 
confused, or he attempted to dissemble. He likewise 
tried, but without success, to obtain the document 
from them. They kept it, and its contents were 
the occasion of wide- spread consternation among 
the Indians. But this is not all. In March, 1758, 
a deputation of the Senecas waited upon Sir Wil- 
liam Johnson, with a message from the Dela- 
wares, the purport of which was, that the French 
had recently convened a great council of the north- 
western Indians at Detroit, at which the same 
project of exterminating the Six Nations was pro- 
posed and discussed. The pretext urged upon 
them by the French was, that the Six Nations 
were wrongfully claiming the territory of their 
western brethren, and were they to be crushed 
and extinguished, there would be no more diffi- 

* MSS. of Sir William Johnson. 



HISTORY OF WYOMING. 117 

culty upon the subject. The western Indians 
would come into the full enjoyment of their own 
again, without question as to jurisdiction. They 
therefore proposed that all the Indians should join 
them "in cutting off the Six Nations from the face 
of the earth." This proposition startled the Del- 
awares, who, after the council, determined to ap- 
prize the Senecas of the plot, and send to them 
tlie hatchet which they had received from the 
French to use against the English. They desir- 
ed the Senecas to keep the hatchet for them, as 
they were determined not to use it again, unless 
by direction of their cousins. Having received 
the message and the hatchet, the Senecas called a 
council to deliberate upon the subject. The 
hatchet they had resolved to throw into deep wa- 
ter, where it could not be found in three centu- 
ries, and they now came to Sir William with the 
information, and for counsel. It was a favoura- 
ble moment for the baronet, and the opportunity 
was not suffered to pass unimproved. It so hap- 
pened that the information was in full confirma- 
tion of the predictions which Sir William had 
many times uttered to the Indians, in his efforts 
to prevent any friendly intercourse between them 
and the French. These predictions the Senecas, 
in their present troubles, remembered with lively 
impressions of the baronet's sagacity ; and the re- 
sult of the interview was an entire alienation of 
the Senecas and Cayugas from the French.* 

*MSS. of Sir William Johnson. 



118 HISTORY OF WYOMING. 

On the 19th of April following, the Shawanese 
and Delawares of Ohio, sent a message of peace 
to Sir William. A council of the Mohawks was 
immediately convened, at the suggestion of the 
superintendent, and it was determined, in the event 
of war, that the Shawanese and Delawares should 
find an asylum from the French at Yenango and 
Fort Du Q^uesne, once more in the valley of Wy- 
oming. But the evacuation, by the French, of 
the Ohio country, soon afterward, as already men- 
tioned, rendered no such formal removal necessa- 
ry.* Meantime another and much larger council 
was holden at Easton, late in the autumn of 1758, 
at which all the Six Nations, and most of the 
Delaware tribes, the Shawanese, the Miamies, 
and some of the Mohickanders were represented. 
The number of Indians assembled was about five 
hundred. Sir William Johnson was present, and 
the governments of Pennsylvania and New-Jer- 
sey were likewise represented. Teedyuscung as- 
sumed a conspicuous position as a conductor of 
the discussions, at which the Six Nations were 
disposed for a time to be oflended — reviving 
again their claim of superiority. But the Dela- 
ware chief was not in a humour to yield the dis- 
tinction he had already acquired, and he sustained 
himself throughout with eloquence and dignity.-f 

The object of this treaty was chiefly the ad- 
justment of boundaries, and .to extend and bright- 
en the chain of friendship, not only between the 

*MSS of Sir William Johnson. i Chapman. 



HISTORY OE WYOMING. 119 

Indians themselves, but between their nations col- 
lectively and the whites. It was a convention of 
much iiarmony toward the close, and after nine- 
teen days' sittings, every difficulty being adjusted, 
they separated with great cordiality and good 
will.* 



* There was yet another council of the Indians held at Easton, in 1761, in 
which Teedyuscung took an active and eloquent part. He was dissatisfied 
at Wyoming, although the government of Pennsylvania appear to have ful- 
filled their contract to build houses for the Indians at considerable expense. 
Teedyuscung, however, threatened to leave the place, against which resolu- 
tion he was strongly urged. The proceedings of this council, at length, are 
among Sir William Johnson's manuscripts. The results were of but little 
importance. 



CHAPTER IV. 

Indefinite grants of lands by the Crown, — Early claim of Connecticut to 
western lands, — Conflicting grants, — Organization of the Susquehanna 
Company, — Project of colonizing Wyoming, — Objections of the Pennsyl- 
vanians, — Conflicting purchases of the Indians, — First attempt to colonize 
Wyoming, — Frustrated by the Indian Wars, — Resumed in 17G2, — First 
arrival of settlers, — Friendship with the Indians, — Return to Connecticut 
for the winter, — Opposition of the Proprietaries, — Removal with their 
families, — Treacherous assassination of Teedyuscung, — First Massacre 
at Wyoming, — Flight of the survivors, — Case of Mr. Hopkins, — Expe- 
dition against the Indians, — Their departure from the valley, — Massacre 
of the Conestogoe Indians by the Paxtang zealots, — Disgraceful proceed- 
ings that ensued, — Moravian Indians settle in Wyalusing, — Remove to 
Ohio. 

Events of a different character now crowd upon 
the attention. " The first grants of lands in Ame- 
rica, by the crown of Great Britain, were made 
with a lavishncss which can exist only where ac- 
quisitions are without cost, and their value un- 
known ; and with a want of provision in regard 
to boundaries, which could result only from en- 
tire ignorance of the country. The charters of 
the great Western and Southern Virginia Compa- 
nies, and of the colonies of Massachusetts Bay 
and Connecticut, were of this liberal and uncer- 
tain cliaracter. The charter of the Plymouth 
Company covered the expanse from tlic fortieth 



HISTORY OF WYOMING. 121 

to the forty-sixth degree of Northern latitude, ex- 
tendinor from the Atlantic to the Pacific Ocean."* 
This charter was granted by King James I., un- 
der the great seal of England, in the most ample 
manner, on the 3d of November, 1620, to the 
Duke of Lenox, the Marquis of Buckingham, the 
Earls of Arundel and Warwick and their asso- 
ciates, "for the planting, ruling, ordering, and 
governing of New-England, in America." The 
charter of Connecticut was derived from the Ply- 
mouth Company, of which the Earl of Warwick 
was President. This grant was made in March, 
1621, to Viscount Say and Seal, Lord Brook, and 
their associates. It was made in the most ample 
form, and also covered the country west of Con- 
necticut, to the extent of its breadth, being about 
one degree of latitude, from sea to sea.f This 
grant was confirmed by the King in the course of 
the same year, and again in 1662. New- York, or, 
to speak more correctly in reference to that period, 
the New-Netherlands, being then a Dutch posses- 
sion, could not be claimed as a portion of these 
munificent grants, if for no other reason, for the 
very good and substantial one, that in the grant 
to the Plymouth Company an exception was made 
of all such portions of the territory as were "then 

♦Gordon's History of Pennsylvania. 

t Trumbull's History of Connecticut. Colonel Timothy Pickering, in hit 
letter to his son, giving the i)articulars of the highhanded outrage committed 
upon him in Wyoming, in 1788, in speaking of these grants, remarks : — 
"It seems natural to suppose by the terms of these grants, extending to th« 
western ocean, that in early times the continent was conceived to be of com- 
paratively little breadth." 

11 



122 HISTORY OF WYOMING. 

actually possessed or inhabited by any other Chris- 
tian prince or State." But the round phraseology 
of the charters opened the door sufficiently wide 
for any subsequent claims, within the specified 
parallels of latitude, which the company, or its 
successors, misfht afterward find it either con- 
venient or politic to interpose. And it appears 
that even at the early date of 1651, some of the 
people of Connecticut were already casting long- 
ing eyes upon a section of the valley of the Dela- 
ware. It was represented by these enterprising 
men that they had purchased the lands in ques- 
tion from the Indians, but that the Dutch had in- 
terposed obstacles to their settlement thereon. In 
reply to their petition, the commissioners of the 
United Colonies asserted their right to the juris- 
diction of the territory claimed upon the Dela- 
ware, and the validity of the purchases that had 
been made by individuals. " They protested 
against the conduct of the Dutch, and assured 
the petitioners that though the season was not 
meet for hostilities, yet if within twelve months, 
at tlieir own charge, they should transport to the 
Delaware one hundred armed men, with vessels 
and ammunition approved by the magistrates of 
New-Haven, and should be opposed by the Dutch, 
they should be assisted by as many soldiers 
as the commissioners might judge meet ; the 
lands and trade of the settlement being charged 
with the expense, and continuing under the gov- 



HISTORY OF WYOMING. 123 

emment of New-Haven."* The project, however, 
was not pressed during the designated period, nor 
mdeed does it seem to have been revived for more 
tlian a century afterward. Many changes of po- 
litical and other relations had occurred during this 
long lapse of time. Disputes had arisen between 
the people of Connecticut and the New Nether- 
lands, in regard to boundaries, which had been 
adjusted by negotiation and compromise. The 
colony of New-Netherlands had moreover fallen, 
by the fortunes of war, under the sway of the 
British crown. The colonies of New- Jersey and 
Pennsylvania had also been planted. Various ad- 
ditional grants had been given by the crown, and 
other questions of territorial limits had been raised 
and adjusted. But in none of these transactions 
had Connecticut relinquished her claims of juris- 
diction, and the pre-emptive right to the lands of 
the Indians, lying beyond New- York, and north 
of the fortieth degree of latitude, as defined in the 
original grant to the Plymouth Company. The 
grant of the Plymouth Company to Lord Say and 
8eal and Lord Brook had been made fifty years 
before the grant of the crown to William Penn, 
and the confirmation of that grant to Connec- 
ticut by royal charter, nineteen years prior to 



*This quotation is from Gordon. Colonel Pickering, in the letter already 
cited in a preceding note, addressed to his son, and privately printed for the 
usoofhis own family only, supposed that Connecticut did not set up any 
formal claim to lands west of New- York and New- Jersey, until just prior to 
the revolution. He was in error. 



124 HISTORY OF WYOMING. 

that conveyance.* Unfortunately, moreover, from 
the laxity that prevailed among the advisers of 
the crown, in the granting of patents, as to boun- 
daries, the patent to William Penn covered a 
portion of the grant to Connecticut, equal to one 
degree of latitude and five of longitude; and 
within this territory, thus covered by double 
grants, was situated the section of the Delaware 
country heretofore spoken of ;-|- as also the yet rich- 
er and more inviting valley of Wyoming, toward 
which some of the more restless if not enterpris- 
ing sons of the Pilgrims were already turning their 
eyes with impatience. Hence the difficulties, and 
feuds, and civil conflicts, an account of which 
will form the residue of the present, and the suc- 
ceeding chapter. 

The project of establishing a colony in Wyo- 
ming was started by sundry individuals in Con- 
necticut in 1753, during which year an association 
was formed for that purpose, called the Susque- 
hanna Company, and a number of agents were 
commissioned to proceed thither, explore the 
country, and conciliate the good will of the Indians. 
This commission was executed ; and as the val- 
ley, though at that time in the occupancy of the 
Delawares, was claimed by the Six Nations, a 
purchase of that confederacy was determined upon. 
To this end, a deputation of the company, the as- 

* Trumbull. 

f Tho specific claim of the Delaware Company, was to the lands between 
the ranges of the north and south lines of Connecticut, westward by the Dela- 
ware river, to within ten miles of tho Sujiquohanna. 



HISTORY OF WYOMING. 125 

sociates of which ah'eady numbered about six 
hundred persons embracing many gentlemen of 
wealth and character, was directed to repair to Al- 
bany, where a great Indian Council was to be as- 
sembled in 1754, and if possible to effect the pur- 
chase. Their movements were not invested 
with secrecy, and the Governor of Pennsylvania, 
— James Hamilton, — becoming acquainted with 
them, was not slow in interposing objections to the 
procedure — claiming the lands as falling within 
the charter of Penn, and of course belonging, the 
pre-emptive right at least, to the Proprietaries 
for whom he was administering the government. 
Hamilton wrote to Governor Wolcott upon the 
subject, protesting strongly against the designs of 
the company. To this letter Wolcott replied, that 
the projectors of the enterprise supposed the lands 
in question were not comprised within the grant 
to William Penn ; but should it appear that they 
were, the Governor thought there would be no 
disposition to quarrel upon the subject. Governor 
Hamilton also addressed General (afterward Sir 
William) Johnson in relation to the matter, pray- 
ing his interposition to prevent the Six Nations 
from making any sales to the agents of the Con- 
necticut Company, should they appear at Albany 
for that purpose. 

But these precautionary measures on the part 

of Governor Hamilton did not defeat the object 

of the Connecticut Company, although a strong 

deputation to that end was sent from Pennsylva- 

11* 



126 HISTORY OF WYOMING. 

nia to Albany.* A purchase was made by the 
Connecticut agents, of a tract of land extending 
about seventy miles north and south, and from a 
parallel line ten miles east of the Susquehanna, 
westward two degrees of longitude.f This 
purchase included the whole valley of Wyo- 
ming, and the country westward to the sources 
of the Alleghany. J The Pennsylvania delegates 
did all in their power to circumvent the agents of 
the Susquehanna Company, holding several pri- 
vate councils with the chiefs of the Six Nations, 
and endeavouring to purchase the same lands them- 
selves. In the course of their consultations, Hen- 
drick, the last of the Mohawk kings,§ thinking 
that some reflection had been cast upon his cha- 
racter, became excited, and declared that neither 
of the parties should have the land. But the Con- 
necticut agents succeeded, as already stated, and 
the Pennsylvanians also effected the purchase of 
" a tract of land between the Blue Mountains and 
the forks of the Susquehanna river."|| Strong 
efforts were subsequently made by the Pennsylva- 

* The Delegates from Connecticut were, William Pitkin, Ro^^cr Wolcott, 
and Elisha Williams. Those from Pennsylvania were, John and Richard 
Penn, Isaac Norris, and Benjnmin Franklin. 

t Trumbull. 

t Chupnian. Another a.ssociiition was sub-icqucnllj- formed in Connecti- 
cut, calk'd the Delaware Company, which ])nrchasod tlie liind of the IndiauK, 
east of the Wyominj^ tract, to tlie Delaware river. Tliis cotnpnny commenc- 
ed a settlemcnl on the Delaware at a place caUed Coshu'unk in IT.'i?, which 
was the first settlement founded by thn people of Connecticut within the ter- 
ritory claimed by them west of New- York. 

$ IIo fell, bravely fighting under UiMieral Johnson, in the battle of L.ike 
George, the following year. 

II Chapman. 



HISTORY OF WYOMING. 127 

nia government, aided by the influence of General 
Johnson, to induce the Indians to revoke the sale 
to the Susquehanna Company, and Hendrick was 
induced by Johnson to make a visit to Philadel- 
phia upon that business. And in justice to the 
Pennsylvanians it must be allowed, that they al- 
ways protested against the legality of this purchase 
by their rivals — alleging that the bargain was not 
made in open council, that it was the work of a 
few of the chiefs only, and that several of them 
were in a state of intoxication when they signed 
the deed of conveyance.* It is farthermore true 
that in 1736 the Six Nations had sold to the Pro- 
prietaries the lands upon both sides of the Susque- 
hanna, — -'from the mouth of the said river up to 
the mountains called the Kakatchlanamin hills, 
and on the west side to the setting of the sun."f 
But this deed was held by the advocates of the 
Connecticut purchase, to be quite too indelinite; 
and besides, as the '■'hills" mentioned, which are 



* Gordon. In this opinion Gordon is supported by Colonel Pickering, who 
remarks: — "These purchases were not made, I am well satisfied, at any 
public council, or open treaties of the Indians to whom they belonged, but of 
little knots of inferior and unauthorized cliiefs, indifferent about the conse- 
qu. nces, provided they received some present gratifications, of comi)aratively 
email value." 

t "The lands hud already been sold, to Ihe Proprietaries of Pennsylvania in 
1730, and that sale enlarged and confirmed by a public deed whose seals were 
scarce dry. The Indian councils at all times afterward denied the sale (at Al- 
bany in 1754.) They disclaimed it in January, 1755, and in lyovember, 1758, 
at Phi'adelidiiu ; and, in 1703, they sent a deputation to Connecticut, on 
hear-ng timt three hundred lamilies proposed to settle those lands, to remon- 
strate against their intrusion, and to deny the alleged sale ; and, in 1771, the 
Delawarcs and their derivative tribes, also protested that they had never sold 
any right to the Connecticut claimants." — Gordon. 



J 28 HISTORY OF WYOMING. 

none other than the Blue Mountams, formed the 
northern boundary not only of that purchase, but 
in the apprehension of the Indians, of the Colony 
of Pennsylvania itself, Wyoming valley could not 
have been included. 

Having succeeded in their purchase, the Sus- 
quehanna company procured a charter from the 
government of Connecticut, upon a memorial pray- 
ing "that they might be formed into a distinct 
commonwealth, if it should be his Majesty's plea- 
sure to grant it, with such privileges and immu- 
nities as should be agreeable to the royal pleasure." 
The company now consisted of six hundred and 
seventy-three associates, ten of whom were resi- 
dents of Pennsylvania ; and it was beyond doubt 
their design to form a separate state or colony. 
But the course of subsequent events defeated that 
object. Still, it was not immediately abandoned, 
and a meeting of the company was called at Hart- 
ford, at which the purchase was divided into 
shares and distributed among the associates. A 
messenger had been previously despatched to Penn- 
sylvania, to summon the attendance of the share- 
holders residing in that province, but he was ar- 
rested by the civil authorities, and after the Gov- 
ernor, Morris, had been apprized of the circum- 
stance, and the fresh movements of the company, 
a messenger was sent to Hartford with a remon- 
strance against tlieir farther proceedings. What 
became of the messenger who was arrested does 
not appear. 



HISTORY OF WYOMING. 129 

Nothing daunted by the remonstrance, the com- 
pany pushed forward a number of colonists, ac- 
companied by surveyors and agents, in order to 
the immediate commencement of the new republic. 
Unhickily for the enterprise, however, the com- 
pany arrived in the valley just as the Indians, un- 
der the influence of the French, as related in a 
former chapter, and encouraged by the defeat of 
Braddock and the fall of Oswego, were beginning 
to manifest a hostile disposition toward the Eng- 
lish. The Nanticokes were the most belligerent 
in their feelings, and would probably have detained 
the new comers as prisoners, had it not been for 
the friendly interposition of Teedyuscung, who 
had not yet determined to take up the hatchet, 
although he did so soon afterward. In conse- 
quence of this interposition, no injury was inflicted 
upon the strangers, and they judged wisely in 
abandoning the enterprise for the time, and re- 
turning to Connecticut. The attempt was not 
renewed until after the general peace with the 
Indians, concluded at Easton, as heretofore stated, 
in 1758, nor indeed until after the fall of Canada 
before the valour of the English and Provincial 
arms. 

The Delaware company commenced a settle- 
ment, under flivourable circumstances, at a place 
called Cushetunk, on the river whence the name 
of their association was derived, in 1757 ; and in 
1758 the Susquehanna Company resumed their 
preparations for planting their colony in Wyoming. 



130 HISTORY OF WYOMING. 

But the unsettled condition of the frontier, not- 
withstanding the peace then just concluded with 
the Indians, seemed to render it inexpedient, if 
not hazardous, for those intending to become col- 
onists to venture at that time so far into the wil- 
derness. These dangers being apparently removed, 
in the year 1762 a body of settlers to the number 
of about two hundred pushed forward to the val- 
ley, so long the object of their keen desire. They 
planted themselves down upon the margin of the 
river, a short distance above its intersection by a 
fine stream of water, called Mill Creek, flowing 
from the east ; and at a suflicient distance from 
the Indian towns to prevent any immediate col- 
lision of their agricultural interests. The greater 
part of the valle^'- was yet covered with wood, ex- 
cepting for short distances close around the Del- 
aware and Shawanese towns, where the trees had 
been cut away in the slender progress of Indian 
husbandry. But the new colonists set themselves 
vigorously at work ; a sufficient number of log 
houses and cabins were erected for their accom- 
modation ; and before the arrival of winter, ex- 
tensive fields of wheat had been sown upon lands 
covered witli forest trees in Auo-ust. 

These adventurers had not taken their families 
with them ; and having now made so favourable a 
beginning, they secured their agricultural imple- 
ments and returned to Connecticut.* It has been 

♦ Chapman. 



HISTORY OF WYOMING. 131 

asserted that the Indians were opposed to this in- 
trusion of the pale-faces among them, and that 
their chief, Teedyuscung, strongly remonstrated 
against it.* This may be true, but if so, it is 
equally true that they must have soon laid aside 
tlieir prejudices, inasmuch as they speedily came 
to live upon terms of daily intercommunication, 
and great apparent harmony. But it was not thus 
with the Pennsylvanians. They looked with dis- 
pleasure upon such a bold encroachment upon ter- 
ritories claimed as their own, and a series of 
unheeded proclamations followed the powerless 
remonstrances of the sheriff and magistracy resid- 
ing in Northampton county, on the Delaware, to 
which the valley of Wyoming was held to belong, 
and the seat of justice of which was at Easton. 
Nor was this all. In the course of the same year, 
the Proprietaries of Pennsylvania made a case, 
and took the opinion of the Attorney General of 
the crown,-]- as to the right of Connecticut to the 
territory she was claiming. That officer was 
clear in his opinion against Connecticut — holding 
that, by virtue of her adjustment of boundaries 
with New- York, she was precluded from advanc- 
ing a step beyond. But the Susquehanna com- 
pany likewise made a case, which was presented 
to the consideration of eminent counsel in Eng- 
land, who came to a directly opposite conclusion. 
Each party, therefore, felt strengthened by those 

• Gordon. t Mr. Pratt— afterward Lord Camden. 



132 HISTORY OF WYOMING. 

conflicting legal opinions, and both became the 
more resolute in the prosecution of their claims. 

Meantime fresh scenes were opening in the dis- 
puted territory itself, as painful as unexpected. 
The pioneers who in the summer of 1762 had 
commenced their operations in Wyoming, returned 
to the valley to resume their labours, early in the 
ensuing spring, accompanied by their families, and 
with augmented numbers of settlers. They were 
furnished with an adequate supply of provisions, 
and took with them a quantity of live stock, black 
cattle, horses, and pigs. Thus provided, and cal- 
culating to draw largely from the teeming soil in 
the course of the season, they resumed their la- 
bours with light hearts and vigorous arms. The 
forests rapidly retreated before their well-directed 
blows, and in the course of the summer, they com- 
menced bringing the lands into cultivation on the 
west side of the river. Their advancement was 
now so rapid, that it is believed the jealousies of 
the Indians began to be awakened. At least, not- 
withstanding the claims which the Six Nations 
had asserted over the territory, by virtue of which 
they had sold to the Susquehanna Comj)any, Teed- 
yuscung and his people alleged that they ought 
themselves to receive compensation also. 

Thus matters stood until early in October, when 
an event occurred which broke up the settlement 
at one fell blow. It has already been seen that at 
the great council held at Easton, in 1758, the Six 
Nations had observed with no very cordial feelings, 



HISTORY OP WYOMING. 133 

the important position which Teedyuscung had 
attained in the opinion of the whites, by the force 
of his talents and the energy of his character. 
Long accustomed to view the Delawares and their 
derivative tribes as their subjects, the haughty 
Mengwes could not brook this advancement of a 
supposed inferior, and the reflection had been rank- 
ling in their bosoms ever since the meeting of that 
council, until it was determined to cut off the ob- 
ject of their hate. For this purpose, at the time 
above mentioned, a party of warriors from the Six 
Nations came to the valley upon a pretended visit 
of friendship, and after lingering about for several 
days, they in the night time treacherously set fire 
to the house of the unsuspecting chief, which, with 
the veteran himself, was burnt to ashes. The 
wickedness of this deed of darkness was height- 
ened by an act of still greater atrocity. They 
charged the assassination upon the white settlers 
of Connecticut, and had the address to inspire the 
Delawares with such a belief. The consequences 
may readily be anticipated. Teedyuscung was 
greatly beloved by his people, and their exaspera- 
tion at "the deep damnation of his taking off," was 
kindled to a degree of corresponding intensity. 

The white settlers, however, being entirely inno- 
cent of the transaction, — utterly unconscious that it 
had been imputed to them. — were equally uncon- 
scious of the storm that was so suddenly to break 
upon their heads. Their intercourse with the In- 
dians, during the precedingyear, had been so entire- 
12 



134 HISTORY OF WYOMING. 

ly friendly, that they had not even provided them- 
selves with weapons for self-defence ; and although 
there had been some slight manifestations of jea- 
lousy at their onward progress, among the Indians, 
yet their pacific relations, thus far, had not been 
interrupted. But they were now reposing in false 
security. Stimulated to rev^enge by the represen- 
tations of their false and insidious visiters, the De- 
lawares, on the 14th of October, rose upon the 
settlement, and massacred about thirty of the 
people, in cold blood, at noonday, while engaged 
in the labours of the field. Those who escaped 
ran to the adjacent plantations, to apprize them of 
what had happened, and were the swift messen- 
gers of the painful intelligence to the houses of 
the settlement, and the families of the slain. It was 
an hour of sad consternation. Having no arms 
even for self-defence, the people were compelled 
at once to seize upon such few of their effects as 
they could carry upon their shoulders, and flee to 
the mountains. As they turned back during their 
ascent to steal an occasional glance at the beauti- 
ful valley below, they beheld the savages driving 
their cattle away to their own towns, and plun- 
dering their houses of the o^oods that had been 
left. At nightfall the torch was applied, and the 
darkness that hung over the vale was illuminated 
by the lurid flames of their own dwellings — the 
abodes of happiness and peace in the morning. 
Hapless indeed was the condition of the fuqiiives. 
Their number amounted to several hundreds — 



HISTORY OF WYOMING. 135 

men, women and children — the infant at the 
breast — the happy wife a few brief hours before 
— now a widow, in the midst of a group of or- 
phans. The supplies, both of provisions and cloth- 
ing, which they had seized in the moment of their 
flight, were altogether inadequate to their wants. 
The chill winds of autumn were howling with 
melancholy wail among the mountain pines, 
through which, over rivers and glens, and fearful 
morasses, they were to thread their way sixty miles, 
to the nearest settlements on the Delaware, and 
thence back to their friends in Connecticut, a dis- 
tance of two hundred and fifty miles. Notwith- 
standing the hardships they were compelled to en- 
counter, and the deprivations under which they 
laboured, many of them accomplished the journey 
in safety, while many others, lost in the mazes of 
the swamps, were never heard of more. 

Thus fell Teedyuscung, who, with all his faults, 
was nevertheless one of the noblest of his race, — 
and thus washis death avenged upon the innocent.* 

Among the individual incidents marking this 
singular tragedy was the following: — Some 
of the fugitives were pursued for a time by a por- 

* Major Parsons, who acted as secretary to the conference withTeedyus 
cung in 1755, described him as "a lusty raw-boned man, haughty, and very 
desirous of respect and command." He was ho\vever,someth ng of a wit. A 
tradition at Shroudsburg, states, th it he thsra met one day a blacksmith named 
Wm. Mc.Nabb, a rather worthless fellow, who accosted him with, " Well 
cousin, how do yon do 1" " Cousin, cousin !" repeated the haughty red man, 
"how do you make that out ?" "Oh! we are all cousns from Adam." 
" Ah! then, I am glad it is no nearer !" was the cutting reply of the chief. 



136 HISTORY OF WYOMING. 

tion of the Indians, and among them was a settler 
named Noah Hopkins, — a wealthy man from the 
county of Duchess, in the State of New- York, bor- 
dering upon Connecticut. He had disposed of a 
handsome landed patrimony in his native town, 
Amenia, and invested the proceeds as a share- 
holder of the Susquehanna Company, and in mak- 
ing preparations for moving to the new colony. 
Finding, by the sounds, that the Indians were upon 
his trail, after running a long distance, he fortu- 
nately discovered the trunk of a large hollow tree 
upon the ground, into which he crept. After lying 
there several hours, his apprehensions of danger 
were greatly quickened by the tread of foot-steps. 
They approached, and in a few moments two or 
three savages were actually seated upon the log 
in consultation. He heard the bullets rattle 
loosely in their pouches. They actually looked 
into the hollow trunk, suspecting that he might 
be there ; but the examination must have been 
slight, as they discovered no traces of his presence. 
The object of their search, however, in after-life, 
attributed his escape to the labours of a busy spider, 
which, after he crawled into the log, had been 
industriously engaged in weaving a web over the 
entrance. Perceiving this, the Indians supposed, as 
a matter of course, that the fugitive could not have 
entered there. This is rather Vifine-sjmn theory of 
his escape ; but it was enough for him (hat he was 
not discovered. After remaining in his placeof con- 
cealment as long as nature could endure the con- 



HISTORY OF WYOMING. 



137 



finement, Hopkins crept forth, wandering in the 
wilderness without food, until he was on the point 
of famishing. In this situation, knowing that he 
could but die, he cautiously stole down into the 
valley ao^ain, whence five days before he had fled. 
All was desolation here. The crops Avere de- 
stroyed, the cattle gone, and the smouldering 
brands and embers were all that remained of the 
houses. The Indians had retired, and the still- 
ness of death prevailed. He roamed about for 
hours in search of something to satisfy the crav- 
ings of nature, fording or swimming the river 
twice in his search. At length he discovered the 
carcass of a wild turkey which had been shot on 
the morning of the massacre, but which had been 
left in the flight. He quickly stripped the bird 
of its feathers, although it liad become somewhat 
offensive by lying in the sun, dressed and washed 
it in the river, and the first meal he made there- 
from was ever afterward pronounced the sweetest 
of his life. Upon the strength of this turkey, with 
such roots and herbs as he could gather in his way, 
he travelled until, — after incredible hardships, 
his clothes beins: torn from his limbs in the thickets 
he was obliged to encounter, and his body badly 
lacerated, — he once more found himself among 
the dwellinijs of civilized men."*" 

But this out-break of the Indians put an end 

* The facts of this little incidental narrative, were communicated to the iiu- 
thor by Mr. G. F. Hopkins, the printer of this present volume and a nephew 
of the sufferer, who died at Pittsfield, (Mass.) at a very advanced age, about 
thirty years ago. He was a very respectable man. 

12* 



138 HISTORY OF WYOMING. 

to their own residence in Wyoming. On the 
receipt of the tidings at Philadelphia, Governor 
Hamilton directed Colonel Boyd, of Harrisburgh, 
to march at the head of a detachment of militia, 
and disperse the authors of the massacre. The 
savages, however, had anticipated the arrival of 
the troopsj — those of them at least who had par- 
ticipated in the murderous transaction, — and with- 
drawn themselves farther up the river, to the In- 
dian settlements in the vicinity of Tioga. The 
Moravian Indians resident there, who had taken 
no part in the massacre, removed toward the Del- 
aware, to Gnaddenhutten. But their residence at 
this missionary station was short. The horrible 
massacre of the Canestogoe Indians, residing upon 
their own reservation in the neighbourhood of 
Lancaster, in December of the same year, by the 
infuriated religious zealots of Paxtang and Don- 
negal, filled them with alarm. They repaired to 
Philadelphia for protection ; and as will presently 
appear, were only with great difficulty saved from 
the hatchets of a lawless band of white men, far 
more savage than themselves. 

The transaction here referred to was a most 
extraordinary event, the recoi-d of which forms 
one of the darkest pages of Pennsylvanian history. 
It took place in December 1763. It was during that 
year that the great Pontiac conceived the design, like 
another Philip, of driving the Europeans from the 
continent. Forming a league between the great in- 
terior tribes of Indians, and summoning their forces 
in unison upon the war-path, he attacked the garri^ 



HISTORY OF WYOMING. 139 

sons upon the frontiers, and the lakes, which were 
simultaneously invested, and many of them taken. 
The borders of Pennsylvania, Maryland, and Vir- 
ginia, were again ravaged by scalping parties, and 
the frontier settlers of Pennsylvania in particular 
suffered with great severity. But although the 
fragments of the Delawares and Six Nations still 
residing in that Colony did not join in the war of 
Pontiac, yet, either from ignorance or malice, sus- 
picions were excited against one of the Indian 
Moravian communities. Availing themselves of 
this pretext, a number of religionists in the towns 
of Paxtang and Donnegal, excited to a pitch of the 
wildest enthusiasm by their spiritual teachers, 
banded together for the purpose of exterminating 
the whole Indian race. Their pretext was the 
duty of extirpating the heathen from the earth, 
as Joshua had done of old, that the saints might 
possess the land. The Canestogoes were the re- 
mains of a small clan of the Six Nations, residing 
upon their own reservation, in the most inoffensive 
manner, having always been friendly to the Eng- 
lish. The maddened zealots fell upon their little 
hamlet in the night, when, as it happened, the 
greater portion of them were absent from their 
homes, selling their little wares among the white 
people. Only three men, two women, and a boy, 
were found in their village. These were dragged 
from their beds, and stabbed and hatcheted to 
death. Among them was a good old chief named 
Shehaes, who was cut to pieces in his bed. The 



140 HISTORY OF WYOMING. 

dead were scalped, and their houses burnt. This 
infamous procedure took place on the 14th of the 
month. 

Hearing of the deplorable act, the masfistrates 
of Lancaster collected the residue of the helpless 
clan, men, women, and children, and placed them 
in one of the public buildinfrs of the town for their 
protection. But on the 27th, a band of fifty of 
the fanatics went openly into the borough, and 
proceeding to the work-house where the Indians 
had been placed, broke open the doors, and with 
fury in their countenances recommenced the work 
of death. Nor did the people of Lancaster lift a 
finger, or the magistrates interfere, for their de- 
fence. "When the poor wretches saw they had 
no protection, and that they could not escape, and 
being without the least weapon of defence, they 
divided their little families, the children clinofinof 
to their parents ; they fell on their fiices, protested 
their innocence, declared their love to the English, 
and that, in their whole lives, they had never 
j3one them any injury ; and in this posture they 
all received the hatchet. Men, women, and chil- 
dren — infants clinging to the breast — were all 
inhumanly butchered in cold blood."* 

But the vengeance of the fanatics was not sati- 
ated. Like the tigers of the forest, bavins: tasted 
blood, they became hungry for more ; and having 
heard that the fugitives from Wyoming, feeling 

* Proud. Vide also Gordon. 



HISTORY OF WYOMING. 141 

themselves unsafe at Gnaddenhutten, had repaired 
to Philadelphia, the zealots set their faces in that 
direction, and marched upon the capital for the 
avowed purpose of putting those Indians to death 
also. Their numbers increased to an insurgent 
army. Great consternation prevailed in Philadel- 
phia on their approach. The poor Indians them- 
selves prayed that they might be sent to England 
for safety ; but this could not be done. An at- 
tempt was then made by the government to send 
them to the Mohawk country, via New- York, for 
the protection of Sir William Johnson ; but the 
civil authorities of New- York objected, and the 
fugitives were marched back to Philadelphia. 
Whereupon the insurgents embodied themselves 
again, and marched once more upon that capital 
in greater numbers than before. Another season 
of peril and alarm ensued, and the Governor hid 
himself away in the house of Doctor Franklin ; 
but the legislature being in session, and the peo- 
ple, the (Quakers even not excepted, evincing a 
proper spirit for the occasion^ the insurgents were 
in the end persuaded to listen to the voice of rea- 
son, and disband themselves. It is a singular fact, 
that the actors in this strange and tragic affair 
were not of the lower orders of the people. They 
were Presbyterians, comprising in their ranks 
men of intelligence, and of so much consideration 
that the press dared not disclose their names, nor 
the government attempt their punishment.* 

* Troud — Gordon. 



142 HISTORY OF WYOMING. 

After these disorders were quieted, and the 
Indian Moravians had had time to look about for 
a place of retreat, they removed to a place called 
Mahackloosing — Wyalusino:,in later times — situ- 
ated upon the Susquehanna, several miles above 
Wyoming valley. Here "they built a considera- 
ble village, containing at one period more than 
thirty good log houses, with shingled roofs and 
glazed windows, a church and school-house, not in- 
ferior to many erected by wealthy farmers." They 
also turned their attention earnestly to agricultural 
pursuits, clearing and enclosing large tracts of up- 
land and meadow. They resided at this place 
several years very happily ; but were ultimately 
induced to join the Moravian Indians beyond the 
Ohio.* 

* Proud — Gordon. 



CHAPTER y. 



Attempt of the Susquehanna Company to recolonize, — Pennsylvania clainns 
the territory again, and leases the valley to Ogden and his associates, — Ki- 
val settlements, — Civil War, — Ogden besieged, — Arrests of the Connec- 
ticut people, — Situation, — Hostilities resumed, — Ogden draws off, — The 
Colony advances, — Propositions for an adjustment, — Rejected by Gover- 
nor Penn, — Expedition of Colonel Francis, — His retreat, — Additional 
forces raised by Penn, — Ogden captures Colonel Durkee, — Connecticut 
settlers negotiate, and leave the valley, — Bad Faith of Ogden, — Lazarus 
Stewart, — Susquehanna Company reoccupy the valley, — Ogden returns 
with forces, — Both parties fortify, — (Jgden besieged, — Surrenders, — 
Penn applies to General Gage, — Request denied, — Reinvaded by Ogden, — 
Yankees taken by surprise, — Captured in the field. — Their fort taken, — 
Arrest of Lazarus Stewart, — Rescued, — Returns to Wyoming and recap- 
tures the fort, — Ogden reappears, — Both parties fortify, — A skirmish, — 
Nathan Ogden killed, — Sensation among the Pennsylvanians, — Lazarus 
Stewart draws off, and Ogden retains the valley, and commences planting 
a colony, — Sudden descent of Zebulon Butler with a strong force, — Ogden 
again besieged, — Escapes to Philadelphia by stratagem for succours. — 
His reinforcements defeated, — Ogden is wounded, — The fort surrenders 
to the Yankees. 



Six years intervened before the Susquehanna 
Company attempted to resume their operations in 
the fair valley of Wyoming. But in the mean- 
time the Proprietaries of Pennsylvania, takuig ad- 
vantaofe of a orrand Indian council assembled at 
Fort Stanwix, in the autumn of 1768, had attempt- 
ed to strengthen their claim to the disputed terri- 
tory by a direct purchase from the Six Nations. 
This object was ol no difficult attainment, as the 



144 HISTORY OF WYOMING. 

Indians might doubtless have been persuaded to 
sell that, or almost any other portion of disputed 
territory, as many times over as white purchasers 
could be found to make payment. In a word, the 
Pennsylvanians were successful, and took a deed 
of the territory from some of the chiefs, in Novem- 
ber, 1768. 

But, nothing daunted by this movement, the Sus- 
quehanna Company called a meeting, and resolved 
to resume the settlement, by throwing a body of 
forty pioneers into the valley in the month of Feb- 
ruary 1769, to be followed by two hundred more 
in the Spring. Indeed the association, in order to 
strengthen their power as well as their claims, and 
to expand their settlements, now appropriated five 
townships, each five miles square, and divided into 
forty shares, as free gifts to the first forty settlers 
in each township.* Many parts of the flats, or 
bottom lands, were of course already clear of wood, 
and ready for cultivation. An appropriation of 
two hundred pounds was made for the purchase 
of agricultural implements ; regulations for the 
government of the colony were drawn up, and a 
committee appointed to carry them into effect.f 

The Pennsylvanians, for once, anticipated the 
people of Connecticut. No sooner had they heard 
of the renewed movements of the Susquehanna 
Company, than they made preparations for the 



* Letter of Colonel Pickering to his son. 

t This committee consisted of Isaac Tripp, Benjamin Follett, John Jonkins' 
William Buck, and Benjamin Shoemaker. 



HISTORY OP WYOMING. 145 

immediate occupation of the valley themselves. 
To this end, a lease of the valley for seven years 
was given to Charles Stewart, Amos Ogden, and 
John Jennings, conditioned that they should es- 
tablish a trading-house, for the accommodation of 
the Indians, and adopt the necessary measures for 
defending themselves, and those who might pro- 
ceed thither under their lease. Mr. Stewart* 
was a surveyor, and by him the valley was di- 
vided and laid out into two manors, that portion 
of it lying upon the eastern side, including the 
Indian town of Wyoming, being called the "Ma- 
nor of Stoke," and the western division the " Ma- 
nor of Sunbury." In January, 1769, the lessees, 
with a number of colonists, proceeded to the val- 
ley, took possession of the former Connecticut 
improvements, and erected a block-house, for their 
defence, should their title and proceedings be 
disputed. The party of forty from Connecticut 
pressed close upon the heels of Stewart and Og- 
den, and sat down before their little garrison on 
the 8th of February. It was a close investment, 
all intercourse between the besieged and their 
friends, if they had any, in the surrounding coun- 
try, being cut off*. Having heard of the approach 
of the Connecticut party, however, Ogden and 
Stewart despatched a messenger to Governor 
Penn, stating that they had but ten men in the 
block-house, and requesting assistance. But af- 

» Afterward Colonel Stewart, of the revolutionary army, and an aid-do- 
camp of Washington. 

13 



146 HISTORY OF WYOMING. 

ter waiting" a sufficient length of time without 
receiving reinforcements, the besieged had re- 
course to stratagem to accomplish what they 
could not effect by power. Under the pretext of 
a consultation, to the end of an amicable adjust- 
ment of the question of title, three of the Connec- 
ticut party, viz : Isaac Tripp, Vine Elderkin, and 
Benjamin Follett, were induced to enter the gar- 
rison, where they were immediately arrested by 
Jennings, who was sheriff of Northampton Coun- 
ty, conveyed to Easton, and there thrown into 
prison. Their rescue would have been attemp- 
ted, but for the fear of endangering their lives. 
However, the prisoners were accompanied to Eas- 
ton by the whole of both parties ; and the key of 
the prison was scarcely turned upon them before 
bail was given for their good behaviour, and the 
Connecticut party retraced their steps to Wyom- 
ing, where their labours were resumed with char- 
acteristic energy. Finding that the numbers of 
the emigrants were increasing, Jennings made 
another effort to arrest their persons and proceed- 
ings in March. The posse of the county, to- 
gether with several magistrates, were ordered 
upon the service, and they again marched upon 
Wyoming in an imposing array. The Connecti- 
cut people had prepared a block-house hastily for 
defence ; but the doors were broken by Jennings, 
who succeeded in arresting thirty-one persons, all 
of whom, with the exception of a few who cilected 
their escape while marching through a swamp, 



HISTORY OF WYOMING. 147 

were taken to Eastoii, cast into prison as be- 
fore, — and again admitted to bail, just in season 
to return once more to Wyoming with a party of 
two hundred recruits who now joined them from 
the Susquehanna Company. Thus reinforced, 
their first work was to build a fort upon a con- 
venient site, protected by the river on one side, 
and a creek and morass upon another. It was a 
regular military defence, consisting of a strong 
block-liouse, surrounded by a rampart and en- 
trenchuient. In the immediate neighbourhood of 
the fortress, — called Fort Durkee, in honour of 
the officer elected to its command, — they erected 
about thirty log-houses, with loop-holes through 
which to fire in the event of an attack. But they 
had no immediate cause to try the strength of 
their defences, although Jennings and Ogden were 
at the moment raising forces to march against 
them. They arrived in the valley on the 24th of 
May; but the works of the Connecticut boys ap- 
peared too formidable to justify an attack by so 
small a number of men as they had the honour to 
command. Jennings and Ogden therefore re- 
turned to Easton, and reported to the Governor 
that the power of the county was inadequate to 
the task of dispossessing the Connecticut settlers, 
who now numbered three hundred able-bodied 
men. 

For a short season the latter were left to push 
forward their improvements without molestation, 
during which state of repose the company com- 



148 HISTORY OF WYOMING. 

missioned Colonel Dyer and Major Elderkin to 
proceed to Philadelphia and endeavour to nego- 
tiate a compromise on the question of title. But 
the proposition, which was for a reference of the 
whole matter in dispute, either to an arbitrament 
or a court of law, was rejected by Governor 
Penn ;, and an armed force, under the command 
of Colonel Francis, was detached to Wyoming, 
with orders to demand a surrender of the fort and 
garrison. The summons was not obeyed ; and 
the Colonel, as the Sherift' of Northampton had 
done before him, after surveying the works, and 
the other preparations for his reception, should he 
attempt an assault, arrived at the conclusion that 
his force likewise was inadequate to the enterprise. 
He therefore retreated, and upon a representation 
of the facts to the Governor, a more formidable 
expedition was immediately set on foot. Mr. 
Sheriff Jennings was directed to assemble the 
power of Northampton county in stronger array 
than before, and to march against the intruders, 
well furnished with small arms, a four-pounder, 
and an abundant supply of fixed ammunition. 
He was carefully instructed by Governor Penn, 
however, to avoid, if possible, an effu.sion of blood. 
Having knowledge of the approach of Jennings, 
Ogden, with a band of forty armed men, antici- 
pated his arrival by dashing suddenly among the 
houses of the settlement, and making several pri- 
soners — among whom was Colonel Durkee. 
These he secured and carried away — thus weak- 



HISTORY OF WYOMING. 149 

ening the forces of the settlers, and perchance dis- 
heartening them by the loss of their principal 
officer. Darkee was taken to Philadelphia and 
closely imprisoned. Two days after his capture, 
Jennino-s arrived before the fort with two hundred 
men in arms, and commenced a parley with the 
garrison, during which Ogden and his company 
were busy in driving away their cattle and horses 
found grazing in the fields. On the following 
day Jennings commenced the erection of a battery 
upon which his ordnance was to be mounted. 
These preparations beginning to wear a more se- 
rious aspect, the garrison proposed a negotiation. 
The result was a capitulation, by which the set- 
tlers agreed to surrender the fort and contiguous 
buildings. All the colonists from Connecticut, 
but seventeen, were to return. These seven- 
teen men, with their families, were to be allow- 
ed to remain and harvest the crops upon the 
ground. They were likewise to hold posses- 
sion of the lands and improvements in the name 
of the Company, until the pleasure of his Mtijesty 
should be known in regard to the rival claims of 
the parties. The articles of capitulation, drawn 
out in due form, were carried into effect by the 
settlers ; but Ogden behaved in bad faith. The 
people, with the exception of the seventeen who 
were to remain, as before mentioned, had no 
sooner departed from the valley than Ogden 
commenced an indiscriminate system of plunder. 
All their live stock was seized and driven away ; 
13* 



150 HISTORY OF WYOMING. 

their houses were stripped ; and, in a word, de- 
prived of the means of subsistence, the seventeen, 
with their families, were compelled to wend their 
way back to Connecticut. 

Early in the ensuing year, demonstrations of a 
yet more belligerent character were put forth by 
the claimants under the Susquehanna Company. 
It has been noted at a former page, that there were 
several share-holders of the Company residing in 
Pennsylvania. In the month of February, 1770. 
therefore, a gentleman named Lazarus Stewart led 
a number of men from Lancaster into the Wy- 
oming valley, who were joined on their progress by 
a body of people from Connecticut. They were 
all armed, and Fort Durkee, garrisoned by only 
eight or ten men, was taken without opposition. 
Ogden himself was absent at the time, and the 
victors proceeded to his house and captured the 
piece of ordnance already mentioned. On hearing 
of these transactions, Ogden hastened back to 
Wyoming, accompanied by about fifty men, by 
whom he garrisoned his own house, (a formida- 
ble block-house,) and commenced adding to its 
strength. On the 2Sth a detachment of fifty men 
was sent against him, with a view of carrying the 
stockade by assault and taking him prisoner. He 
had a deputy sheriff with him, however, who, at 
the head of a strong party, sallied out for the pur- 
pose of arresting the assailants. A smart skirmish 
ensued, during which several of the Connecticut 
people were wounded, and one man killed. Find- 



HISTORY OF WYOMING. 151 

ing that Ogden's people could fire upon them 
from his house, without exposing themselves to 
danger, the Connecticut people retreated, and as 
Colonel Durkee had returned from Philadelphia, 
a reg^ular sieo:e of Oo^den's fortress was determined 
upon, A battery was erected over against him 
on the opposite bank of the river, upon which the 
four-pounder was mounted, and briskly played 
upon Ogden for several days, without making 
much impression on his defences. Durkee's men 
then determined to bring the enemy to closer 
quarters, for which purpose they were arranged 
in three divisions, and marched out with drums 
beating and colours flying, to within musket shot 
of the block-house. Three breast-works were ra- 
pidly constructed, from which the firing was again 
commenced, and briskly returned. After five 
days of desultory firing on both sides, a party of 
the besiegers advanced under Ogden's guns, with 
great intrepidity, and set fire to one of his out- 
works, which was consumed, together with a large 
quantity of goods contained therein. Ogden had 
again called upon Governor Penn for reinforce- 
ments ; but as these were not forthcoming, the 
contest relaxed. Colonel Durkee despatched a 
flag to Ogden, requesting a conference, which was 
acceded to, and he surrendered upon terms simi- 
lar to those which had been granted to the Con- 
necticut people the season before. He had no 
improvements or land to protect ; but the stipula- 
tion was that he should withdraw himself and all 



152 HISTORY OF WYOMING. 

his party from the valley, excepting six men, who 
were to remain to guard his house and preserve 
his property. After his retreat, however, the evil 
which he had done the people from Connecticut, 
the season before, was requited upon his own 
head. His property was seized by the Yankees, 
and his house burnt.* It was believed that Gov- 
ernor Penn would have attempted his relief but 
for his own unquiet position just at that time — 
the Boston massacre having given an impulse to 
the spirit which not long afterward broke forth in 
the war of the Revolution. Thus situated, the 
Governor called upon General Gage, then com- 
manding the forces of the crown at New- York ; 
but the General replied that he thought the cha- 
racter of the dispute was such that it would be 
highly improper for the King's troops to interfere. 
Failing in the application for the aid of his 
majesty's troops, Governor Penn issued another 
proclamation on the 2Sth of June, forbidding any 
settlers from planting themselves down upon the 
disputed territory, unless by consent of the lessees, 
Stewart and Ogden. The energies of the govern- 
ment were likewise put in exercise to raise a force 
adequate to the work of carry in 2: the proclamation 
into effect. It appears to have been a hard matter, 
however, to enlist troops for the service. The 

* Among the prieonorg found in the block-house after tlic capitulation, 
were eight men from Now -England, and three Germans, who hail never 
before been in Wyoming, and who mistook Ogden's liouso for the fort of 
the opposite party. The number of killed and wounded during the siege is 
not known.— Chapman. 



HISTORY OF WYOMING. 153 

summer passed away before the expedition was 
on foot, and the entire body numbered only one 
hundred and forty men.* But the deficiency of 
numbers was made up by the courage and skill 
of their leader, who was none other than Captain 
Ogden himself. Taking the route of the Lehigh, 
and the old '•' Indian Walk," this enterprising man 
arrived with his forces upon the crest of the moun- 
tain overlooking the settlement, on the 22d of 
September. He was well aware that his band of 
one hundred and forty men would stand but a 
poor chance with 'the Connecticut boys, unless 
he could take them by surprise. To this end, 
therefore, he had advanced with so much circum- 
spection that the colonists were entirely ignorant 
of his approach. By the aid of his telescope he 
observed the movements of the settlers in the 
morning, until, utterly unconscious of danger, 
they went forth in small squads, to engage in 
the labour of their field. Then separating his own 
men into divisions equal to the number of the 
labouring parties, Ogden descended into the valley, 
and stole upon them with such admirable caution, 
that many of them were made prisoners almost 
before they knew of their danger. Those who 
escaped ran to the fort and gave the alarm. The 
women and children from the houses immediately 
collected within the fort for safety, while Ogden 

* Colonel Pickering attributes the difficulty of raising troops to march 
against Wyoming, on every application, not only to the unpopularity of the 
Proprietaries, but to the influence of the (iuakers, to whom war was always 
abhorrent. Vide, letter to his son. 



154 HISTORY OF WYOMING. 

drew off into a gorge of the mountain, where his 
prisoners were made secure and sent off to Easton 
under a strong escojt. Within the garrison all 
was confusion during the day, while Ogden, yet 
too weak to hazard another attack, kept in his 
concealment, trusting to chance or strataorem to 
direct his next movement. Every thing worked 
entirely to his satisfaction. The garrison, finding 
that they had provisions for a siege, resolved to 
send an express, under cover of the night, to their 
brother colonists of Coshutunk for aid. But the 
messengers detached upon this service, supposing 
that Ogden would guard the path leading to the 
Delaware colony, resolved upon taking a route 
less exposed — and by doing so they threw them- 
selves directly into his camp. From these unfor- 
tunate messengers Ogden extracted such informa- 
tion touching the situation of affairs within the for- 
tress, as determined him at once to make a night 
attack. It was a wise resolution. Crowded with 
men, women, and children, the little fort was in 
no condition for repelling an assault, and the re- 
sult was, a surprise and complete success. The 
movements of the assailants were conducted with 
so much secrecy, that the sentinel was knocked 
down before he saw aught of alarm ; the door of 
the block-house was easily forced ; and after a 
short affray, in which the belligerents were tum- 
bling over women and children, and during which 
several persons of the garrison were killed, the 
fort surrendered. In the course of the melee. 



HISTORY OF AVYOMING. 155 

Captain Zebulon Butler would have been killed 
by a bayonet, but for the interposition of Captain 
Craig, one of Ogden's officers, who arrested the 
weapon, and prevented farther bloodshed. The 
greater portion of the prisoners were sent to Eas- 
ton for imprisonment, while Butler and a few of 
the chief men were ordered to Philadelphia. 
Ogden then plundered the fort, and all the houses 
of the settlement, of whatever he could find of 
value, and withdrew to the larger settlements be- 
yond the mountains — leaving a garrison to retain 
possession of the fort during the winter. 

But it was shortly determined by the fortunes 
of war, that this oft-contested position should 
again change hands. After the burning of Og- 
den's house, as already mentioned, warrants were 
issued by the Judges of the Supreme Court of 
Pennsylvania, directing the arrest of Lazarus 
Stewart, Zebulon Butler, and Lazarus Young, 
for the crime of arson. Stewart was arrested at 
Lebanon ; but some of his partizans in the neigh- 
bourhood, hearing of his arrest, immediately re- 
paired thither for his rescue. On their approach 
he knocked down the officer in whose charge he 
had been placed, and joined his friends, whom he 
shortly led back to Wyoming, though, as it would 
appear, in profound secrecy. Meantime, as the 
settlers from Connecticut had been completely 
dispersed by Ogden in the autumn, the garrison 
left by him at Fort Durkee saw no necessity for 
keeping an over-vigilant watch. The result of 



156 HISTORY OF WYOMING. 

their negligence should serve as a caution to sol- 
diers as well in peace as in war ; since it happen- 
ed that at about three o'clock on the morning of 
December 18th, this little isolated garrison was 
awakened from a deep and quiet slumber by an 
unceremonious visit from Stewart, at the head of 
twenty-three Lancastrians, and half a dozen Con- 
necticut boys, who had already taken possession 
of the fort, and were shouting " Huzzah for King 
George !" The garrison consisted of but eigh- 
teen men, exclusive of several women and chil- 
dren. Six of the former leaped from the parapet 
and escaped naked to the woods. The residue 
were taken prisoners ; but were subsequently 
driven from the valley, after being relieved of 
such of their movables as the victors thought 
worth the taking. Stewart and his men remain- 
ed in the fort. 

These bold and lawless exploits of Stewart 
created a strong sensation in the minds of the 
Proprietaries' government. Another warrant for 
the arrest of Stewart was issued by the Supreme 
Court, and the Sheriff of Northampton was di- 
rected to proceed with the power of his county 
once more to Wyoming, and execute the writ. 
He arrived before the fort with his forces on Sat- 
urday the 18th of January, 1771, and demanded 
admittance, which was refused — : Stewart declar- 
ing that Wyoming was under the jurisdiction of 
Connecticut, to whose laws and civil officers only 
he owed obedience. The parley continued until 



HISTORY OF WYOMING. 



157 



nightfall, when the sheriff retired to a new block- 
house which Amos Ogden and his brother Na- 
than, with their followers, were building. This 
work was completed on Sunday ; and on Mon- 
day Nathan Ogden accompanied the sheriff" and 
his posse once more in front of Fort Durkee, to 
demand the surrender of Stewart. Another refu- 
sal ensued, whereupon Ogden commenced firing 
upon the fort, which was promptly returned. Og- 
den fell dead, and several of his men were woun- 
ded. The body being secured, the party returned 
to the block-house, and the residue of the day was 
occupied by Amos Ogden and the sheriff in de- 
vising what next was to be done. But the entire 
aspect ofthe siege was changed the ensuing night, 
by the silent evacuation of the fort by Stewart 
and forty of his men, leaving only twelve men 
behind, who quietly surrendered to the sheriff 
the next day, and were marched across the moun- 
tains to Easton. Amos Ogden remained in the 
fort, and persuaded many of his former associates 
again to join him, and attempt once more to col- 
onize this vale of beauty and trouble. The death 
of Nathan Ogden was regarded by the authorities 
of Pennsylvania as the greatest outrage that had 
thus far marked this most singular and obstinate 
contest ; and a reward of three hundred pounds 
was offered for the apprehension of Lazarus Stew- 
art. But he was not taken. 

The valley now had rest for the comparatively 
long period of six months, during which time the 

14 



158 HISTORY OF WYOxMING. 

settlers of Ogden had increased to the number of 
eighty-two persons, incUiding women and chil- 
dren. Their repose and their agricultural occupa- 
tions wercj however, suddenly interrupted on the 
6th of July, by the descent from the mountains 
of seventy armed men from Connecticut, under 
the command of Captain Zebulon Butler, who 
had been joined by Lazarus Stewart at the head of 
another party. Their object was to regain the 
possession of the valley, and they set themselves 
at work like men who were in earnest. During 
the season of repose which Ogden had enjoyed, 
he had abandoned Fort Durkee, and built ano- 
ther and stronger defence, which he cfilled Fort 
Wyoming. The forces of Butler and Stewart 
were rapidly augmented by recruits from Connect- 
icut ; and several military works were commenced 
by the besiegers, to hasten the reduction of Og- 
den's garrison. For this purpose two redoubts 
were thrown up, one of them upon the bank be- 
low Fort Wyoming, and the other upon a bold 
eminence above, projecting almost into the river, 
and entirely commanding the channel. Two en- 
trenchments were likewise opened, and the fort 
was so completely invested that communication 
with the surrounding country was entirely cut 
off. But Ogden's garrison was well supplied with 
provisions and ammunition ; and his work too 
strong to be taken without artillery. Thus cir- 
cumstanced, he conceived the bold design of es- 
caping from the fort by stratagem, and proceed- 



HISTORY OF WYOMING. 159 

ing in person to Philadelphia for reinforcements — 
instructing his troops in any event to retain the 
post until his return. His plan was executed with 
equal courage and skill. On the night of July 
12th he made up a light bundle to float upon the 
surface of the river, upon which he secured his 
hat. Connecting this bundle to his body by a 
cord of several yards in length, he dropped gently 
into the stream, and floated down with the cur- 
rent — the bundle, which presented much the most 
conspicuous object, being intended to draw the 
fire should it be discovered. It was discovered 
by the sentinels, and a brisk fire directed upon it 
from the three redoubts. But as it appeared to 
hold the even tenor of its way without interrup- 
tion from the bullets, the firing ceased, and the 
bundle and its owner escaped — the latter un- 
touched, but the former and less sensitive object 
pierced with several bullets. 

John Penn having retired from the colony, the 
oflice of the Executive had now devolved upon 
the Honourable James Hamilton, President of the 
Council. Ogden arrived at Philadelphia without 
delay, and on a representation of the situation of 
affairs at Wyoming, vigorous efl'orts were set on 
foot for the succour of the besieged. A detach- 
ment of one hundred men was ordered to be raised, 
to march upon the rebellious settlers, with the 
sheriff" of Northampton, but under the command 
of Colonel Asher Clayton. The detachment was 
to be divided into two companies, the one com- 



160 HISTORY OF "\VYOIVIING. 

manded by Captain Joseph Morris, and the other 
by Captain John Dick. They were to march to 
the scene of action by different routes, and at dif- 
ferent times. But, as before, great difficuUy was 
experienced in raisincr the men ; and Captain Dick, 
who was to march first, was compelled to advance 
with only thirty-six men, encumbered by pack- 
horses and provisions not only for the whole di- 
vision, but also for the relief of the besieged. The 
Connecticut forces, however, although maintain- 
ing the siege closely, were too vigilant to be taken 
by surprise. They had become aware of Ogden's 
escape and movements, and were apprised of the 
advance of Captain Dick, for whose reception every 
needful preparation was made. Suddenly, there- 
fore, on approaching the fort he was to relieve, he 
found himself in the midst of an ambuscade. At 
the first fire his men ran to the fort for protec- 
tion, but sixteen of them together with the en- 
tire stock of provisions, fell into the hands of the 
Connecticut forces. Ogden was of the number 
who succeeded in entering the fort, as also did 
Colonel Clayton. This affair happened on the 
30th of July. Elated by their success, the assail- 
ants now pressed the siege more closely than be- 
fore, until the 10th of August, keeping up a daily 
fire wlienevcr any persons of the garrison appeared 
in view. 

On the 11th Captain Butler sent a flag, de- 
manding a surrender; but as the besieged had 
contrived to despatch another messenger to Phila- 



HISTORY OF WYOMING. 



161 



delphia, with an account of Dick's misfortune, and 
praying for farther assistance, and as the govern- 
ment was endeavouring to raise and send forward 
another body of one hundred men, they refused 
the summons, and the firing was resumed. But- 
ler had no artillery, and a wooden cannon was 
constructed from a gnarled log of pepperidge, by a 
colonist named Carey, and mounted upon his bat- 
tery. But it burst asunder at the second discharge. 
Still, the contest was closely maintained until the 
14th, when, having been long upon short allow- 
ance, disappointed in not receiving the promised 
reinforcements, and their provisions being entirely 
exhausted, the garrison surrendered. The articles 
of capitulation were signed by Zebulon Butler, 
Lazarus Stewart and John Smith, on the part of 
the besiegers, and by Colonel Asher Clayton, Jo- 
seph Morris and John Dick, in behalf of the Pro- 
prietaries. The stipulations were, " that twenty- 
three men might leave the fort armed, and with 
the remainder unarmed, might proceed unmolested 
to their respective habitations; that the men hav- 
ing families might abide on the debateable land 
for two weeks, and might remove their effects with- 
out interruption ; and that the sick and wounded 
might retain their nurses, and have leave to send 
for a physician."* 

It afterward appeared that at the time of the 
surrender, a detachment of sixty men had arrived 



Gordon. 

14* 



162 HISTORY OF WYOMING. 

within ten miles of the fort, commanded by Cap- 
tain Led lie ; but having heard of the surrender, 
the Captain wisely conchided to make a different 
disposition of his company. Numbers of the gar- 
rison were wounded during the siege, among 
whom was Amos Ogden, severely. While he was 
leaning upon the arm of one of his subalterns, 
William Ridyard, the latter was struck by a ball, 
and killed instantly. The loss of the Connecticut 
forces, in killed and wounded, was a matter which 
appears not to have been divulged. By the terms 
of the capitulation, Ogden and his party were all 
to remove from Wyoming.* 

In the month of September following, Mr. Ham- 
ilton gave a detailed account of these proceedings 
to the legislature — informing that body that the 
intruders had burnt the block-house, and were 
fortifying themselves upon a more advantageous 
position. It was determined by the council that 
a correspondence should be opened with the Gov- 
ernor of Connecticut upon the subject, which was 
accordingly done. The President informed Gov- 
ernor Trumbull thattlic intruders had assumed to 
act under the authority of the state of Connecticut. 
The latter replied cautiously, denying that the 
Connecticut people were acting under any direc- 
tions from him, or from the General Assembly — 



* Gordon asserts that during this sicgo, Butler proposed to Colonel Clayton 
that the rights of the respective claimants should be determined by combat, 
between thirty men to be chosen from each side. But the proposition was 
rejected. 



HISTORY OF WYOMING. 163 

neither of whom would countenance any acts of 
violence for the maintenance of any supposed 
rights of the Susquehanna Company. 

Thus closed the operations of the respective par- 
ties for the year 1771. The Connecticut colonists 
increased so rapidly, and prepared themselves so 
amply for defence, that the Pennsylvania forces 
were all withdrawn, and the Susquehanna Com- 
pany left in the quiet possession of the valley. 



CHAPTER VI. 

Government of Wyoming — Thoroughly democratic, — Attempted mediation 
with the Pennsylvanians — Failure — Opinions of English counsel, — Con- 
necticut asserts jurisdiction, — Opposition of Governor Penn, — Proclama- 
tions, — Season of repose, — Another Civil War, — Destruction of the Con" 
necticut settlement on the West Branch, — Interposition of Congress, — Not 
heeded, — Expedition and repult^e of Colonel Plunkett, — Relinquishment 
of the contest, — War of the Revolution, — Letting loose of the Indians, — 
Defenceless situation of Wyoming, — Invasion by the tories and Indians, — 
Hasty preparations for defence, — Tlie colonists resolve to attack, — The 
Battle and Massacre, — The Capitulation, — Ravaging of the valley, — Vin- 
dication of Brant, — Cruelties of the tories, — Flight of the people, — Vin- 
dication of Colonel Zebulon Butler, — His character, — Vindication of Co- 
lonel Dennlson, — Captain Spalding, — Second invasion, — Afl'air of Colo- 
nel Powell, — Sullivan's Expedition, — Subsequent battles and skirmishes 
with the Indians. 

Thus far the government of the Connecticut set- 
tlers — that is to say, all the government that was 
exercised, — had been of a voluntary and military 
character. But the cessation of all opposition to 
the proceedings of the Susquehanna Company, for 
the time, on the part of Pennsylvania, rendered the 
longer continuance of martial law inexpedient, 
while by the rapid increase of the population it 
became necessary that some form of civil govern- 
ment should be adopted. The increasing irritation 
existing between the parent government and the 
colonies, already foreshadowing an approaching 



HISTORY OF WYOMING. 165 

appeal to the 7dti7iia ratio regiurij had taught the 
directors of the company that a charter for a new 
and distinct colonial government from the crown, 
was not to be expected. In this exigency, the com- 
pany applied to the General Assembly of Connect- 
icut, to have Iheir Wyoming settlements taken lui- 
der the protection of the colony until the pleasure 
of his majesty should be known. But the General 
Assembly was in no haste to extend its aegis over 
so broad a territory, at so great a distance from 
home.* They therefore advised the company in 
the first instance to attempt an amicable adjustment 
of their difficulties with the Proprietaries of Penn- 
sylvania ; offering to undertake the negotiation in 
tlieir behalf. In case of a failure to obtain a just 
and honourable arrangement, the General Assem- 
bly next suggested a reference of the whole sub- 
ject to the king in council. Meantime, while they 
wished the colony God speed, they advised them 
to govern themselves by themselves, in the best 
manner they could. 

Pursuant to this advice, the inhabitants of the 
valley proceeded to elect a government of their 
own ; and the institutions established by them 
were the most thoroughly democratic, probably, of 
any government that has ever existed elsewhere 
among civilized men. '' They laid out townships, 
founded settlements, erected fortifications, levied 
and collected taxes, passed laws for the direction 

* Tlie territory claimed by the Susquehanna Company, extended one hun- 
dred miles north and south, and one hundred and ten miles west of the river. 



166 HISTORY OP WYOMING. 

of civil suits, and for the punishment of crimes 
and misdemeanourSj established a militia, and pro- 
vided for the common defence and general welfare 
of the colony."* The supreme legislative power 
was vested directly in the people, not by represen- 
tation, but to be exercised by themselves, in their 
primary meetings and sovereign capacity. A ma- 
gistracy was appointed, and all the necessary ma- 
chinery for the government of towns, according to 
the New-England pattern, organized and put in 
motion. Three courts were instituted, all having 
civil and criminal jurisdiction : but the Court of 
Appeals, called the Supreme Court, to which every 
case might be carried, was formed, like their legis- 
lature, of the people themselves in solemn assem- 
bly convened. 

Under this government the people lived very 
happily, and the colony advanced with signal pros- 
perity for two years. During this time the Gene- 
ral Assembly of Connecticut had made an honest 
effort to negotiate a settlement between the Com- 
pany and the Proprietaries of Pennsylvania, but 
in vain. An able commission had been sent to 
Philadelphia, consisting of Colonel Dyer, Doctor 
Johnson and J. Strong; but Governor Penn would 
not listen to their propositions, although they were 
of the most equitable description. Upon this re- 
fusal, even to acknowledge the commission, the 
General Assembly caused a case to be made up 
and transmitted to England for the ablest legal 

* Chapman. 



HISTORY OF WYOMING. 167 

opinions that could be obtained. This case was 
submitted to Edward, afterward Lord Thurlow, 
Alexander Wedderburn, Richard Jackson, and J. 
Dunning — all famous for their learning in the 
law, who gave a united opinion in favor of the 
Company. Thus fortified, the General Assembly 
of Connecticut took higher ground, and perceiv- 
ing how greatly the colony was flourishing, in 
October, 1773, they passed a resolution asserting 
their claim to the jurisdiction of the territory, and 
their determination in some proper way to support 
the claim.* The Company now renewed their 
application to be taken into the Colony of Con- 
necticut, in which request the General Assembly 
acquiesced, and the entire territory was erected 
into a chartered tovv^n, called Westmoreland, and 
attached to the county of Litchfield. The laws 
of Connecticut were extended over the settlement ; 
representatives from Westmoreland were admitted 
to sit in the General Assembly ;-t- and Zebulon- 
Butler and Nathan Denniston were regularly com- 
missioned justices of the peace. All necessary re- 
gulations for the due administration of the local 
affairs of the settlements were made ; new town- 
ships were opened and entered upon by emigrants, 
and the colony advanced with unprecedented 
prosperity. Governor Penn and his Council be- 
held these movements with high displeasure, and 
sundry proclamations were issued forbidding the 

* Trumbull. t Idem. 



168 HISTORY OF WYOMING. 

people to obey the laws and authorities of Con- 
uecticut ; but these paper missives were no more 
regarded than would have been an equal number 
of vermilion edicts from the Emperor of China. 

Two years more of repose were enjoyed by the 
colonists of the Company, during which they 
flourished to a degree that could scarcely have 
been anticipated by their founders. The valley 
was laid out into townships five miles square, and 
under the hand of industry, the teeming soil soon 
made the valley to smile in beauty like a litde 
paradise. The town immediately adjoining the 
Wyoming Fort was planted by Colonel Durkee» 
and named Wilkesbarre, in honour of John 
Wil/ces and Colonel Barre, as heretofore men- 
tioned. But in the autumn of 1775, just at the 
moment v/hen the Hercules of the new world was 
grappling with the giant power of Great Britain, 
the torch of civil war was again lighted by the 
people of Pennsylvania. Among the settlements 
of the Connecticut people, vv^hich had been pushed 
beyond the confines of the valley of Wyoming, 
was one upon the West Branch of the Susque- 
hanna, uniting with the main stream at Northum- 
berland, about sixty miles below. On the 2Sthof 
September, 1775, this plantation was attacked by 
a body of the Northumberland militia, who, after 
killing one man, and wounding several others, 
made prisoners of the residue of the settlers, and 
conducted tliem to Sunbury, where they were 
thrown into prison. At about the same time, a 



HISTORY OF WYOMING. 169 

number of boats, trading down the river from 
Wyoming, were attacked and plundered by the 
Pennsylvanians. Tliese acts of course produced 
immediate and extreme indignation on the part of 
the Connecticut colonists. 

But instead of seizing their arms at once, and 
rushing to the liberation of their imprisoned 
friends, they petitioned the Provincial Congress, 
then in session, to interpose for the adjustment of 
the controversy. On the 9th of November the 
petition was considered by Congress, and a con- 
ciliatory resolution, with a suitable preamble, was 
adopted, setting forth the danger of internal hos- 
tilities in that critical conjuncture of the affairs of 
the colonies, and urging the governments of Penn- 
sylvania and Connecticut to the adoption of the 
most speedy and effectual measures to prevent 
such hostilities.* 

The voice of Congress, however, was unheeded, 
and the imprisonment of the settlers from the West 
Branch was rendered more rigid than before. Ap- 
prehensions were moreover excited among the 
people of Northumberland, that the chafed inha- 
bitants of Wyoming might make a descent upon 
Sunbury, liberate their friends and fire the town. 
Whether these apprehensions were caused by 
actual threats, or by a sense of their own wrong- 
doino^, cannot be predicated ; but one of the conse- 
quences was a proposition, by a Colonel Plunkett 



Journals of the old Congress. 

15 



170 HISTORY OF WYOMING. 

of Northumberland, to raise a force and march 
against Wyoming for its immediate conquest and 
subjugation. The proposal was listened to by the 
Governor, and orders were issued to Plunkett to 
raise the necessary forces, and execute his purpose 
by the expulsion of the Connecticut settlers. 

Plunkett was himself a civil magistrate, as well 
as a colonel ; but in order to impart to the expe- 
dition a civil rather than a military character, 
the army was called the " Posse" of the county, 
and the colonel was accompanied by the sheriff. 
The number of men raised for the service was 
seven hundred, well provisioned, and amply fur- 
nished with mihtary stores, which latter were em- 
barked upon the river in boats. 

These formidable preparations gave no small 
degree of uneasiness to Congress, yet in session 
in Philadelphia, and resolutions were immediate- 
ly passed, urging tlie Pennsylvanians at once 
to desist from any farther hostile proceedings, to 
liberate the prisoners that had been taken, and re- 
store all private property that had been detained : 
and in a word to refrain from any and every hos- 
tile act, until the dispute between the parties could 
be legally decided.* But these resolutions com- 
manded no more respect from the Pennsylvanians, 
either the government or the people, than the 
others. Plunkett, who had already commenced 
his march, pursued his course. Winter, liowever, 
was approaching ; the boats were impeded in their 

* Journals of Congress. 



HISTORY OP WYOMING. 171 

progress by a swollen torrent, bearing masses of 
ice upon its surface ; and the troops could not of 
course proceed in advance of their supplies. The 
progress of the invaders, therefore, was as deliber- 
ate as those who were to be attacked could desire. 
It was near the close of December when Colo- 
nel Plunkett reached the Nanticoke rapids, in 
the narrow mountain defile through which the 
Susquehanna rushes on its escape from Wyoming, 
and the obstructions of which were so great, that 
the boats could not be propelled any farther. De- 
taching a guard, therefore, for the protection of 
his supplies, the Colonel continued his march by 
the road on the west side of the river, which winds 
along by the bases of the mountains, whose rocky 
battlements at times hang impending over it. Af- 
ter emerging from the gorge, and entering the 
valley, the prospect, on that side of the river, is at 
one point nearly intercepted by a large rock pro- 
jecting from a spur of the Shawanese Mountain, 
and extending nearly to the edge of the river. 

Entering the valley from the south, this rock, 
or ledge, presents a formidable perpendicular front, 
as even as though it were a structure of hewn 
mason-work. The road winds along at the base 
of the ledge, turning its projection close by the 
river. The Colonel was somewhat startled as he 
came suddenly in view of this gigantic defence ; 
nor was his surprise diminished by a second 
glance, which taught him that the extended brow 
of the rock had been fortified, while a volley of 



172 HISTORY OF WYOMING. 

musketry told him farther, that this most unex- 
pected fortification was well garrisoned. 

The whole passage of the defile at the Naiiti- 
coke falls presents exactly such a geological con- 
formation as it would delight a Tyrolese popula- 
tion to defend ; and the Yankees of Wyoming had 
not been blind to the advantages which nature had 
here supplied for arresting the approach of the in- 
vader. The fire had been given too soon for 
much eflfect ;* but it served to throw the forces 
of Plunkett into confusion, and an immediate re- 
treat behind another mountainous projection, for 
consultation, was the consequence. The hazard 
of turning the point of the battlemented Shaw- 
anese rock, defended by an enemy of unknown 
strength, thus securely posted, was too great to be 
entertained. It was therefore determined, by the 
aid of a batteau brought past the rapids by land for 
that purpose, to cross the river and march upon 
the fort of Wyoming along the eastern shore. 

Immediate dispositions were made for executing 
this change in the plan of the campaign ; but on 
the approach of the batteau to the opposite shore 
with the first detachment of the invaders, headed 
by Colonel Plunkett himself, a sharp fire from an 
ambuscade gave unequivocal evidence that their 
every possible movement had been anticipated. 

♦Gordon affirms that this volley killed one man, and dangerously wounded 
three others of Plunkett's party. He also states that Colonel Plunkett was at 
first rnetin an amicable manner, by a party of the settlers, under one of their 
leaders, and that ho assured them his only object was to arrest the persona 
named in his warrants, protesting that he would offer violence to no one sub- 
mitting to the laws. 



HISTORY OF WYOMING. 173 

This ambuscade was commanded by Lieutenant 
Stewart, who had reserved his fire until the in- 
vaders were leaping on shore. One man was 
killed by the first fire, and several others wounded. 
So warm a reception upon both sides of the river 
had not been foreseen. The boat was therefore 
instantly pushed from, the land, and without at- 
tempting to regain the shore whence they had 
embarked, was suffered to drift down the stream 
and over the rapids, to the fleet of provision boats 
below. The chivalrous Colonel, being a peace 
officer, lay down in the bottom of the boat to 
avoid the shots that were sent after him. His 
troops on the western side, however, attempted to 
cover his retreat, by firing at random into the 
thicket where Stewart had posted his men. By 
one of these chance shots a man named Bowen 
was killed. 

Plunkett's entire force now fell back upon the 
boats, where another council of war took place. 
To attempt to force the passage of the terrific 
rock, frowning in its own strength, and bristling 
with bayonets besides, was evidently impractica- 
ble. It could not be carried by assault, for want 
of two articles, — courage and scaling ladders. — 
To march around the point the garrison would 
not allow them. And to avoid the difficulty by 
threading the ravines of the mountains in the rear 
on either side, would be a yet more dangerous 
undertaking, inasmuch as the Yankees might not 
only use their fire-arms, but also tumble the rocks 
15* 



174 HISTORY OF WYOMING. 

down upon their heads and ignominoiisly crush 
them to death. In addition to all which, it was 
now evident that even should they be successful 
in sitting down before the fort of Wyoming, and 
opening their entrenchments, the works would 
not be very easily taken ; while their own situa- 
tion, by the destruction of their boats, and the 
cutting off of their supplies, and in sundry other 
respects, might be rendered exceedingly uncom- 
fortable. Under such an accumulation of unto- 
ward circumstances and forbidding prospects, dis- 
cretion was wisely esteemed the better part of 
valour, and the expedition was abandoned. 

With this unsuccessful effort "terminated the 
endeavours of the Executive of Pennsylvania to 
expel, by force, her troublesome inmates. They 
had become very numerous, and had extended 
themselves over a large tract of country, upon 
which they had planted and built with great suc- 
cess. Possession, by lapse of time, was growing 
into right, to preserve which, it was obvious, the pos- 
sessors had resolved to devote their lives. Forcible 
ejection would therefore be followed with much 
bloodshed, and wide-extended misery, which would 
tend greatly to weaken the efforts of the two colo- 
nies in the common cause against Great Britain.''* 
******* 

For a season after the breaking out of the war 
of the revolution, Wyoming was allowed a state 
of comparative repose. The government of Penn- 

* Gordon. 



HISTORY OF WYOMING.. 175 

sylvania was changed by the removal of the Pro- 
prietaries, or successors of Penn, and the forma- 
tion of a new constitution ; and both Connecticut 
and Pennsylvania had other and more important 
demands upon their attention than the disputes of 
rival claimants for a remote and sequestered terri- 
tory. A census was taken, and the whole popula- 
tion of the several towns of the valley, now ac- 
knowledging the jurisdiction of Connecticut, was 
computed at about two thousand five hundred 
souls.* Two companies of regular troops were 
raised, under resolutions of Congress, commanded 
by Captains Ransom and Durkee, of 82 men each. 
These companies were mustered and counted as 
part of the Connecticut levies, and attached to the 
Connecticut line. They were, moroever, efficient 
soldiers, having been engaged in the brilliant affair 
of Millstone, the bloody and untoward battles of 
Brandywine and Germantown, and in the terrible 
cannonade of Mud- bank. 

Notwithstanding the remoteness of its position, 

* Chapman, who resided in Wyoming at the time he wrote his history, 
twenty five years ago, states the number of inhabitants at five thousand, and 
so does Marshall. Dut in a recent appeal to the legislature of Connecticut, 
by a committee from Wyoming, drawn up by the Hon. Charles Miner, for 
more than forty years a resident of that place, the population at that period 
is stated at 2500. Considering the number of soldiers raised for the regular 
service there, and the number killed in the massacre, twenty-five hundred 
seems too small ; but in answer to an objection raised by the author, Mr. Mi- 
ner writes — " In 1773 there were 430 taxables ; allowing five inhabitants to 
each taxable, will give 2150. In 1777, a new oath of allegiance was required 
by Connecticut of every freeman. We have the recorded list returned by all 
the justices ; the number is 269. Add for these with the army 100, for many 
in the service were not of age, and it will make 369. Multiply this by six 
gives 2214 inhabitants. The number did not exceed 2500." 



176 HISTORY OF WYOMING. 

and its peculiar exposure to the attacks of the en- 
emy, rendered more perilous from its contiguity to 
the territory of the Six Nations, and the readiness 
with which a descent could be made upon them 
by the way of the Susquehanna, tlie people of 
Wyoming were prompt to espouse the cause of 
their country, and as early as the first of August, 
1775, in town meeting, they voted " that we will 
unanimously join our brethren of America in the 
common cause of defending our country." In the 
month of August in the following year it was 
voted '' that the people be called upon to work on 
the forts, without either fee or reward from the 
town." And in 1777 the people passed a vote 
empowering a committee of inspectors " to supply 
the soldiers' wives, and the soldiers' widows, and 
their families, with the necessaries of life."* 

But the unanimity asserted in the first resolu- 
tion cited above must have been a figurative 
expression, since, unhappily, there were loyalists 
in Wyoming, as elsewhere. The civil wars, 
moreover, had left many bitter feelings to rankle 
in the bosoms of such as had been actively en- 
2fao^ed in those feuds. Added to which, in the 
exuberance of their patriotism, between twenty 
and thirty suspected citizens were seized by the 
Whiofs, and draaaed over the woods and moun- 
tains into Connecticut, for imprisonment. Nine of 
these men were discharged immediately, and in a 

*MS. records of Westmoreland, in the possession of Charles Miner. 



HISTORY OF WYOMING. 



177 



few days the residue were set at liberty for want 
of proof to warrant their detention. They all 
speedily thereafter found their way into the ranks 
of the enemy in Canada — among the Tory 
rangers of Sir John Johnson and Colonel John 
Butler. These points are stated thus minutely, be- 
cause they are essential to a just understanding of 
the darker features of the history that is to follow. 
The Indians of the Six Nations were not 
brought actively into the field against the colonies 
until the summer of 1777. From that moment, 
the whole extended frontiers of the colonies, 
reaching from Lake Champlain round the North- 
west and South to the Floridas, were harassed 
by the savages. Wyoming, however, did not im- 
mediately suffer so severely as many other border 
settlements. Some straggling parties of Indians, 
it is true, hung about the valley, while General 
St. Leger was besieging Fort Stanwix ; but af- 
ter a few skirmishes with the inhabitants, they 
withdrew, and the people were not again disturb- 
ed during that year. But no small degree of un- 
easiness was created early in 1778, by the conduct 
of the loyalists yet remaining in the valley. 
These apprehensions, however, were allayed for 
a time, by messages of peace received from the 
Indians. But these messages were deceptive, as 
was ascertained in March by the confessions of 
one of them, who, while in a state of partial intox- 
ication, revealed their real purposes. They had 
sent their messengers to Wyoming merely to lull 



178 HISTORY OF WYOMING. 

the inhabitants into such a state of security as 
would enable them to strike a surer blow. The 
party to which the drunken Indian belonged, was 
thereupon arrested and detained, while the women 
were allowed to depart. It was not long before 
the inhabitants of the outer settlements, — especi- 
ally those some thirty miles distant, upon the 
river north, — were grievously annoyed, and many 
of them clustered in upon the older and larger 
towns. In April and May, the savages hanging 
upon the outskirts became yet more numerous, 
and more audacious, committing frequent rob- 
beries, and in June several murders. Thencefor- 
ward, " their pathways were ambushed, and mid- 
night was often red with the conflagration of their 
dwellings."* 

There were no settlements contiguous to Wy- 
oming, upon which they might call for aid in 
case of sudden emergency. It was not merely an 
outpost, but was an isolated community, almost em- 
bosomed in the country of a savage enemy. To 
Sunbury, the nearest inhabited post down the Sus- 
quehanna, it was sixty miles ; through the great 
swamp, and over the Pokono range of mountains 
to the settlements on the Delaware, a pathless wil- 
derness, it was also sixty miles. The Six Na- 
tions, ever the most to be dreaded upon the war- 
path, occupied all the upper branches of the Susque- 
hanna, and were within a few hours' sail of the 

* Momorial to the Legislature of Connecticut. 



HISTORY OP WYOMING. 179 

plantations.* Thus situated, there had been a 
conventional understanding between the govern- 
ment and the people of Wyoming, that the regu- 
lar troops enlisted among them should be station- 
ed there, for the defence of the valley ; but the 
exigencies of the service required their action 
elsewhere, and not only were they ordered away, 
but other enlistments were made, to the number, 
in all, of about three hundred. The only means 
of defence remaining consisted of militia-men, the 
greater proportion of whom were either too old or 
too young for the regular service. And yet upon 
these men devolved the duties of cultivating the 
lands to obtain subsistence for the settlements, and 
likewise of performing regular garrison duty in 
the little stockade defences which were dignified 
by the nauie of forts, and of patrolling the out- 
skirts of the settlements, and exploring the thick- 
ets, in order to guard against surprise from the 
wily Indians, and their yet more vindictive tory 
allies. 

There were some six or seven of those defences 
called forts, but consisting only of stockades, or 
logs, planted upright in the earth, and about four- 
teen feet hio^h, the enclosures within which served 
also as places of retreat for the women and chil- 
dren in seasons of alarm. They had no artillery 
save a single four-pounder, kept at Wilkesbarre, as 
an alarm-gun, and their only means of defence, 

* Memorial to the Legislature of Connecticut. 



180 HISTORY OF WYOMING. 

therefore, consisted of small arms, not always in 
the best order, as is ever the case with militia. 
Thus weakened by the absence of its most effi- 
cient men, and otherwise exposed, Wyoming 
presented a point of attack too favourable to 
escape the attention of the British and Indian 
commanders in the country of the Six Nations, 
and in Canada. They were also, beyond doubt, 
stimulated to undertake an expedition against it 
by the absconding loyalists, who were burning 
with a much stronger desire to avenge what they 
conceived to be their own wrongs, than with 
ardour to serve their king. 

Under these circumstances, the ever memorable 
expedition of Colonel John Butler, with his own 
Tory Rangers, a detachment of Sir John John- 
son's Royal Greens, and a large body of Indians, 
chiefly Senecas, was undertaken against Wyoming 
early in the summer of 1778, and, alas ! was but 
too successful. The forces of the invaders are 
estimated by some ailthorities at eleven hundred, 
seven hundred of whom were Indians. Other ac- 
counts compute the Indians at four hundred. Op- 
posed to these forces were a company of some 
forty or fifty regulars, under Captain Hewitt, and 
such numbers of the militia, heretofore described, 
as could be hastily collected. Boys and old men, 
fathers and sons, aged men and grandfathers, 
were obliged to snatch such weapons as were at 
hand, and take the field at the warning of a mo- 
ment. Nor were the so-called regulars under 



HISTORY OF WYOMING. 181 

Captain Hewitt, regulars in the proper acceptation 
of the term. The Captain had but recently re- 
ceived his commission, with directions to recruit 
at Wyoming. He had enlisted these forty or fifty 
men, who were obliged to find their own arms ; 
and having had but a short and indifferent expe- 
rience in martial exercise, when the enemy came 
they were militia men yet, though not such in 
name. The expedition of the enemy moved from 
Niagara, across the Genesee country, and down 
the Chemung to Tioga Point, whence they em- 
barked upon the Susquehanna, and landed about 
twenty miles above Wyoming — entering the val- 
ley through a notch from the west, about a mile 
below the head of the valley, and taking possession 
of a small defence called Wintermoot, after the 
name of its proprietor, an opulent loyalist of that 
town.* Colonel John Butler established his head 
quarters at this place, and thence, ' for several 
days, scouts and foraging parties were sent out, 
for observation and to collect provisions. The 



* Among the papers of Colonel Zebulon Butler, Mr. Miner has discovered 
a document labelled, " A list of Tories who joined the Indians." There are 
sixty-one names on the list, but of these there were but three New-England 
men. Mo^t of them were transient persons, or labourers ; or men who had 
gone to Wyoming as hunters and trappers. Six arc of one family — the Win- 
tcrmoots ; four were named Sccord ; three were Paiclings ; three Lanaways^ 
and four Van Alstijnes. It is not believed that there were more than twenty 
or twenty-five tory families. Nine of them were from the Mohawk valley 
who were probably sent thither by the Johnsons to poison the settlement if 
possible, or as spies. Four of them were from Kinderhook ; six from the 
county of Westchester, (N. Y.) The Wintermoots were from Minisink. 
There were not ten tory families who had resided two years in Wyoming. — 
Letter to the Author from Charles Miner. 

16 



182 HISTORY OF WYOMING. 

• 

enemy's arrival at Fort Wintermoot, which stood 
on the bank of the river, was on the 2d of July. 

The dark and threatening sayings of a drunken 
Indian, as ah'eady stated, had awakened some sus- 
picions that an attack was meditated by the enemy 
in the course of the season, and a message had been 
sent to the head quarters of the continental army 
early in June, praying for a detachment of troops 
for their protection. To this request no answer had 
been received. To fly, however, with their women 
and children, with an agile enemy upon their very 
heels, was impossible, even had the thought been 
entertained. But it was not. "Retirement or 
flight was alike impossible, and there was no 
security but in victory. Unequal as was the con- 
flict, therefore, and hopeless as it was in the eye of 
prudence, the young and athletic men, fit to bear 
arms, and enlisted for their special defence, being 
absent with the main army ; yet the inhabitants, 
looking to their dependent wives, mothers, sisters, 
little ones, took counsel of their courage, and 
resolved to give^the enemy battle."* Having such 
treasures to defend, in addition to the great pend- 
ing quest ion of National existence and liberty, they 
felt strong confidence that they should be able to 
repel the invader. No sooner, therefore, was 
the presence of the enemy known, than the mili- 
tia rapidly assembled at the old defence, " Fort 
Forty," so frequently mentioned in the preced- 
ing narrative of the civil wars, which was situ- 

* Memorial to the Legislature of Connecticut. 



HISTORY OF WYOMING. 183 

ated immediately on the west bank of the river, 
some three miles north of Fort Wyoming. Small 
garrisons of aged men were left in the other 
feeble forts of the colonistS; for the protection of 
the women and children assembled therein, while 
the majority of those capable of bearing arms, old 
men and boys, fathers, strand-fat hers and grand- 
sons, assembled at Fort Forty, to the number of 
nearly four hundred. 

Colonel Zebulon Butler, heretofore mentioned 
as a soldier in the French war, and as being placed 
in the commission of the peace, was now an officer 
in the continental army, and happening to be at 
home at the time of the invasion, on the invitation 
of the people he accepted the command. A coun- 
cil of war was called on the morning of the 3rd ot 
July, to determine upon the expediency of march- 
ing out and giving the enemy battle, or of await- 
ing his advance. There were some who preferred 
delay, in the hope that a reinforcement would ar- 
rive from the camp of General Washington. Oth- 
ers maintained that as no advices had been received 
thence in reply to their application, the mes- 
senger had probably been cut off; and as the 
enemy's force was constantly increasing, they 
thought it best to meet and repel him at once if 
possible. The debates were warm ; and before 
they were ended, five commissioned officers, who, 
hearing of the anticipated invasion, had obtained 
permission to return for the defence of their fami- 
lies, joined them. Their arrival extinguished the 



184 HISTORY OF WYOMING. 

hope of present succour by reinforcements from the 
main army, and the result of the council was a 
determination for an immediate attack. 

As soon as the proper dispositions could be 
made. Colonel Zebulon Butler placed himself at 
the head of the undisciplined force, and led them 
forward, the design being to take the enemy by 
surprise. And such would probably have been 
the issue but for the occurrence of one of those 
untoward incidents acrainst which human wisdom 
cannot guard. A scout, having been sent forward 
to reconnoitre, found the enemy at dinner, not 
anticipating an attack, and in high and frolick- 
some glee. But on its return to report the fact 
the scout was fired ilpon by a straggling Indian, 
who gave the alarm. The consequence was, that 
on the approach of the Americans, they found the 
enemy in line ready for their reception. Colonel 
Zebulon Butler commanded the right of the Ameri- 
cans, aided by Major Garratt. The left was com- 
manded by Colonel Dennison, of the Wyoming 
militia, assisted by Lieut. Colonel Dorrance. Op- 
posed to the right of the Americans and also rest- 
ing upon the bank of the river, was Colmiel John 
Butler, with his rangers. The right of the enemy, 
resting upon, or rather extending into, a marsh, 
was composed principally of Indians and tories, 
led by a celebrated Seneca chief named Gi-en- 
gwah-tofi ; or, He-wJio-gocs-in-the-Sjiioke. The 
field of battle was a plain, partly cleared and 



HISTORY OF WYOMING. 185 

partly covered with shrub oaks and yellow pines. 
The action began soon after four o'clock in the 
afternoon, and was for a time kept up on both 
sides with great spirit. The right of the Ameri- 
cans advanced bravely as they fired, and the best 
troops of the enemy were compelled to give back. 
But while the advantages were thus promising 
with the Americans on the right, far different was 
the situation of affairs on the left. Penetrating 
the thicket of the swamp, a heavy body of the In- 
dians were enabled, unperceived, to outflank Col. 
Dennison, and suddenly like a dark cloud to fall 
upon his rear. The Americans, thus standing 
between two fires, fell fast before the rifles of the 
Indians and tories, but ^ret they faltered not, until 
the order of Colonel Dennison to "fallback," for 
the purpose only of changing position, was mis- 
taken for an order to retreat. The misconception 
was fatal. The confusion instantly became so 
great that restoration to order was impossible. The 
enemy, not more brave, but belter skilled in the 
horrid trade of savage war, and far more numer- 
ous withal, sprang forward, and as they made the 
air resound with their frightful yells, rushed upon 
the Americans, hand to hand, tomahawk and spear. 
But the handful of regulars and those who were 
not at first thrown into confusion did all that men 
could dare or achieve to retrieve the fortunes of 
the day. Observing one of his men to yield a 
little ground. Colonel Dorrance called to him with 
the utmost coolness — " Stand up to your work, 
16* 



186 HISTORY OF WYOMING. 

sir ! " The Colonel immediately fell.* As the 
enemy obtained the rear, an officer notified Cap- 
tain Hewitt of the fact, and inquired, "Shall we 
retreat, sir?" "I'll be d — d if I do," was his re- 
ply — and he fell instantly dead at the head of his 
little command. The retreat now became a flight, 
attended with horrible carnage. ''We are nearly 
alone," said an ofiicer named Westbrook — "shall 
we go?" "I'll have one more shot," said a Mr. 
Cooper, in reply. At the same instant a savage 
sprang toward him with his spear, but was brought 
to the ground in his leap, and Cooper deliberately 
re-loaded his piece before he moved. He was one 
of the few who survived the battle. On the first 
discovery of the confusion on the left, Colonel 
Zebulon Butler rode into the thickest of the melee, 
exclaiming — " Don't leave me, my children ! 
The victory will yet be ours." But numbers and 
discipline, and the Indians besides, were against 
the Americans, and their rout was complete. 

During the flight to Fort Forty, the scene was 
that of horrible slaughter. Nor did the darkness 
put an end to the work of death. No assault was 
made upon the fort that night ; but many of the 
prisoners taken were put to death by torture. The 
place of these murders was about two miles north 
of Fort Forty, upon a rock, around which the In- 
dians formed themselves in a circle. Sixteen of 
the prisoners, placed in a ring around a rock, near 

* The Rev. John Uorrance, paslor of ilie Presbyterian churcli in Wilkcsbarre 
[in 1839] is a grand-soQ of Colonel Dorrance. 



HISTORY OF WYOMING. 187 

the river, were held by stout Indians, while the 
squaws struck their heads open with the toma- 
hawk. Only one individual, a powerful man 
named Hammond, by a desperate effort, escaped. 
In a similar ring, a little farther north of the rock, 
nine persons were murdered in the same way.* 
It has been said, both in tradition and in print, 
that the priestess of this bloody sacrifice was the 
celebrated Catharine Montour, sometimes called 
Glueen Esther, whose residence was at Catharines- 
town, at the head of Seneca Lake. But the state- 
ment is improbable. Catharine Montour was a 
half-breed, who had been well educated in Canada. 
Her reputed father was one of the French s^overn- 
ours of that province when appertaining to the 
crown of France, and she herself was a lady of 
comparative refinement. She was much caressed 
in Philadelphia, and mingled in the best society.f 
Hence the remotest belief cannot be entertained 
that she was the Hecate of that fell niofht. A nisfht 
indeed of terror, — described with truth and power 
by the bard of Gertrude, as the dread hour when — 

— "Sounds that mingled laugli, and shout, and scream 

To freeze the blood in one discordant jar, 

Rung the pealing thunderbolts of war. 

Whoop after whoop with rack the ear assailed, 

As if unearthlj' fiends had burst their bar ; 

While rapidly the marksman's shot prevailed ; — 

And aye, as if for death, some lonely trumpet wailed !" 

When the numbers are taken into the account, 
the slaughter on this occasion was dreadful. The 

* Note in ? lUman's Journal, vol. xviii. 
t Vide Whitham Marshe's Journal of a treaty with the Six Nations at Lan- 
caster, in 1744. 



188 HISTORY OF WYOMING. 

five officers who arrived from the continental 
army on the morning of the battle were all slain. 
Captain Hewitt, who fell, had a son in the battle 
with him, aged eighteen. Captain Aholiah Buck 
and his son, aged only fourteen, were both slain. 
Anderson Dana, the representativeof the valley in 
the Connecticut legislature, had returned from the 
session just in season to fight and fall. His son- 
in-law, Stephen Whiting, who had been married 
to his da.ughter but a few months before, went in- 
to the battle with him, and was also slain. Two ' 
brothers, named Perrin and Jeremiah Ross, were 
slain in the battle.* There was a large family 
named Gore, one of whom was with the conti- 
nental army. Those at home, five brothers and 
two brothers-in-law, went into the battle, and of 
these, five were dead upon the field at night, a 
sixth was wounded, and one only escaped unhurt. 
Of the family of Mr. Weeks, seven went into the 
battle, viz : five sons and sons-in-law, and two in- 
mates. Not one of the number escaped. These 
are but a few instances of many, selected merely 
for the purpose of showing how general was the 
rush to the field, and how direful the carnage.t 
The Hon. Charles Miner has thus eloquently 

* Brothers of General William Ross, vho is yet livinj^, (1840,) in Wyoming. 

t Among the oificerfi killed in the battle, tlic following names havo been 
) reserved. liieutenant Colonel Goorce Dorrance ; — IMajor Wait Garrett ; — 
Captains Dottrick Hewitt, Robert Durkee,* Aholiah Buck, Asa Whittlcseyj 

Lazarus Stewart, Samuel Ransom,* James Bidlack, Geere, ■ 

M'Kanachin, Wigdon ; — Lieutenants, Timothy Tierce,* .Tames 

Welles,* Elijah Shoemaker, Lazarus Stewart, 2d,Perin Ross,* Asa Stevens ; 

Ensigns, Asa Gore, Avery. ^fCT" Tiiose marked (*) were the five 

who arrived from the Continental army on the morning of the battle. 



HISTORY OF WYOMING. 



189 



described the closing scene of that day, as toward 
nightflill the fugitives came flying for shelter to 
the little forts. "The ravenous vulture was seen 
wheeling aloft, ready to pounce on the nest of 
the peaceful dove. The war-whoop and the scalp- 
yell of the savage Mohawk resounded through 
the valley. These were fiends who rip up, with 
merciless cruelty, the teeming mother, — who 
strike the gray-haired father to the earth, and dash 
out the infant's brains on the door-post. This 
was the terrible enemy that came down upon us 
in overwhelming numbers. Naked, panting and 
bloody — a few who had escaped came rushing 
into Wilkesbarre Fort, where, trembling with 
anxiety, the women and children were gathered, 
waiting the dread issue. The appalling ^'-Allis 
losty^ proclaimed their utter destitution. They fly 
to the mountains — evening is approaching — the 
dreary swamp and " The Shades of Death"* be- 
fore them, — the victorious hell-hounds are open- 
ing on their track. They look back on the valley — 
all around the flames of desolation are kindling ; 
they cast their eye in the range of the battle field ; 
numerous fires speak their own horrid purpose. 
They listen ! The exulting yell of the savage 
strikes the ear ! Again — a shriek of agonizing 
wo! Who is the sufferer? It is the husband of 
one who is gazing ! the father of her children ! ! 

" O God who art the widow's friend 
Be thou her comforter." 

♦ A dismal swamp among the mountains, so called in consequence of the 
numbers who perished there in the flight. 



190 HISTORY OF WYOMING. 



The fair fields of Wyoming presented a melan- 
choly spectacle on the morning of the 4tli. The 
pursuit of the Indians had ceased the preceding 
evening with the nightfall, and the work of death 
was completed by the tragedy at the Bloody Rock. 
But the sun arose upon the carcasses of the dead 
— not only dead but horribly mangled — strewn 
over the plain, from the point where the battle be- 
gan to Fort Forty. A few stragglers had at first 
taken refuge in that defence, but they did not re- 
tain it long; and by the morning light, all who 
had not been slain, or who had not betaken them- 
selves to the mountains, had collected at Fort 
Wyoming, before which Colonel John Butler 
with his motley forces appeared at an early hour, 
and demanded a surrender. It appears that some 
negotiations upon the subject of a capitulation had 
been interchanged the preceding evening, but at 
what point is uncertain — probably at Fort Forty. 
Be that as it may, it was understood that no terms 
would be listened to by the enemy but that of the 
uncond'tional surrender of Colonel Zebulon But- 
ler, and the small handful of regular troops, num- 
bering only fifteen, who had escaped the battle, to 
the tender mercies of the Indians. Under these 
circumstances, means of escape for the Colonel 
and these fifteen men were found during the night. 
The former succeeded in making his way to one 
of the Moravian settlements on the Lehigh, and 
the latter fled to Shamokin. 



HISTORY OF WYOMING. 191 

The little fort being surrounded by a cloud of 
Indians and tories, and having no means of de- 
fence, Colonel Dennison, now in command, yield- 
ed to the force of circumstances, and the importu- 
nities of the women and children, and entered 
into articles of capitulation. By this it was mu- 
tually agreed that the inhabitants of the settle- 
ment should lay down their arms, the fort be de- 
molished, and the continental stores be delivered 
up. The inhabitants of the settlement were to be 
permitted to occupy their farms peaceably, and 
without molestation of their persons. The loyal- 
ists were to be allowed to remain in the undis- 
turbed possession of their farms, and to trade 
without interruption. Colonel Dennison and the 
inhabitants stipulated not again to take up arms 
during the contest, and Colonel John Butler agreed 
to use his utmost influence to cause the private 
property of the inhabitants to be respected. 

But the last-mentioned stipulation was entirely 
unheeded by the Indians, who were not, and per- 
haps could not be, restrained from the work of 
rapine and plunder. The surrender had no sooner 
taken place than they spread through the valley. 
Every house not belonging to a loyalist was plun- 
dered, and then laid in ashes. The greater part 
of the inhabitants, not engaged in the battle, men, 
women, and children, had fled to the mountains 
toward the Delaware ; and as the work of de- 
struction was re-commenced, many others follow- 
ed the example. The village of Wilkesbarre con- 



192 HISTORY OF WYOMING. 

sisted of twenty-three houses. It was burnt, and 
the entire population fled. No lives were taken 
by the Indians after the surrender ; but numbers 
of women and children perished in the dismal 
swamp on the Pokono range of mountains, in the 
flight which will be presently described. The 
whole number of people killed and missing was 
about three hundred. 

Until the publication, year before last, of the 
Life of Brant, by the writer of the present work, 
it had been asserted in all history that that cele- 
brated Mohawk chieftain was the Indian leader at 
Wyoming. He himself always denied any parti- 
cipation in this bloody expedition, and his asser- 
tions were corroborated by the British officers, 
when questioned upon the subject. But these 
denials, not appearing in history, relieved him not 
from the odium; and the "monster Brant" has 
been denounced, the world over, as the author of 
the massacre. In the work referred to above, the 
author took upon himself the vindication of the 
savage warrior from the accusation, and, as he 
thought at the time, with success. A reviewer of 
that work, however, in the Democratic Magazine, 
who is understood to be the Hon. Caleb Gushing 
of Massachusetts, disputed the point, maintaining 
that the vindication was not satisfactory. The 
author thereupon made a journey into the Seneca 
country, and pushed the investigation among the 
surviving chiefs and warriors of the Senecas en- 
gaged in that campaign. The result was a tri- 



HISTORY OF WYOMING. 193 

umphant acquittal of Brant from all participation 
therein. The celebrated chief Captain Pollard, 
whose Indian name is Kaoundoowand^ a fine old 
warrior, was a young chief in that battle. He 
gave a full account of it, and was clear and posi- 
tive in his declarations that Brant and the Mo- 
hawks were not engaged in that campaign at all. 
Their leader, he said, was Gi-en-gioah-toh^ as 
already mentioned, who lived many years after- 
ward, and was succeeded in his chieftaincy by 
the late Young King. That point of history, 
therefore, may be considered as conclusively set- 
tled. 

Colonel Benjamin Dorrance, yet a resident of 
Wyoming, a gentleman of character and affluence, 
was a lad in Fort Forty at the time of its surren- 
der to Butler and the Indians, and remembers 
freshly the circumstances. He states that after 
the capitulation, the British regular troops march- 
ed into the fort by the northern or upper gate- 
way, while Gi-en-gwah-toh and his Indians en- 
tered at the southern portal. Colonel Dorrance 
recollects well the look and conduct of the In- 
dian leader. His nostrils distended, and his burn- 
ing eyes flashing like a basilisk's, as he glanced 
quickly to the right, and to the left, with true 
Indian jealousy and circumspection, lest some 
treachery or ambuscade might await them with- 
in the fort. But the powerful and the brave had 
fallen. Old age was there, tottering upon his 
crutches, and widowed women, with their help- 
17 



194 HISTORY OF WYOMING. 

less children clinging to their garments — sobbing 
in all the bitterness of a woe at which the ruthless 
savages mocked.* 

But after all, the greatest barbarities of this cele- 
brated massacre were committed by the tories. Ma- 
ny loyalists, as has been already seen, had months 
before united themselves with the enemy at Ni- 
agara ; and on his arrival at the head of the val- 
ley, many more of the settlers joined his ranks. 
These all fought with the most brutal ferocity 
against their former neighbours, and were guilty 
of acts of which even this distant contemplation 
curdles the blood. Of these acts a single one 
must suffice. During the bloody fight of the 3d, 
some of the fugitives plunged into the river and 
escaped to the opposite shore. A few landed 
upon Monockonock Island, having lost their arms 
in the flight, and were pursued thither. One of 
them was discovered by his own brother, who had 
espoused the side of the crown. The unarmed 
Whig fell upon his knees before his brother and 
ofiered to serve him as a slave forever, if he would 
but spare his life. But the fiend in human form 
was inexorable; he muttered "yo?^ are ad — d 



♦The Hazlcton Travellers," by Charles Miner. I shall have frequent oc- 
casion to repeat this reference in the succeeding chapter, and it may be well 
to explain what is the work referred to. It is not a book, but a series of his- 
torical essays, or rather colloquies, published by Mr. Miner in the village 
paper of Wyoming, during the years 1837 and 1838. In these papers, the 
author introduces a party of strangers from Hazlcton, who accompany him in 
an imaginary journey through the valley, and to whom the author is supposed 
to recount its history in a series of familiar conversations. These papers have 
been of great value to the author. 



HISTORY OF WYOMING. 195 

rehel^' and shot him dead. This tale is too hor- 
rible for belief; but a survivor of the battle, a 
Mr. Baldwin, whose name will occur again, con- 
firmed its truth to the writer with his own lips. 
He knew the brothers well, and in August, 1839, 
declared the fact to be so.* The name of the 
brothers was Pensil. 

The fugitives generally crossed the mountains 
to Stroudsburg, where there vvas a small milita- 
ry post. Their flight was a scene of wide-spread 
and harrowing sorrow. Their dispersion being 
in an hour of the wildest terror, the people were 
scattered, singly, in pairs, and in larger groups, 
as chance separated them or threw them together 
in that sad hour of peril and distress. Let the 
mind picture to itself a single group, flying from 
the valley to the mountains on the east, and climb- 
ing the steep ascent — hurrying onward, "filled 
with terror, despair and sorrow ; — the aff'righted 
mother, whose husband has fallen ; — an infant 
on her bosom — a child by the hand — an aged 
parent slowly climbing the rugged steep behind 
them; — hunger presses them severely — in the rust- 
ling of every leaf they hear the approaching sav- 
age, — a deep and dreary wilderness before them, — 
the valley all in flames behind, — their dwellings 
and harvests all swept away in this spring-flood 
of ruin, — the star of hope quenched in this blood- 
shower of savage vengeance. "f There is no work 
of fancy in a sketch like this. Indeed it cannot 

* Vide also Chapman. fThe Hazleton Travellers. 



196 HISTORY OF WYOMING. 

approach the reality. There were in one of these 
groups that crossed the mountains — those of them 
that did not perish by the way, — one hundred 
women and children, and but a single man to aid, 
direct, and protect them. Their sufferings for 
food were intense. One of the surviving officers 
of the battle, who escaped by swimming the river, 
crossed the mountains in advance of many of 
the fugitives, and was active in meeting them 
with supplies. " The first we saw on emerging 
from the mountains," said a Mrs. Cooper, one of 
the fugitives, "was Mr. Hollenbach riding full 
speed from the German settlement with bread: 
and O ! it was needed ; we had saved nothing, 
and were near perishing ; my husband had laid 
his mouth to the earth to lick up a little meal 
scattered by some one more fortunate." 

Mr. William Searle, whose father, Constant 
Searle, an aged man, was slain in the battle, being 
himself unable to go into the engagement because 
of a wound received in a skirmish with a party of 
Indians a few days before, was nevertheless obli- 
ged to make his way across the mountains, as the 
conductor of a party of twelve women and children. 
Captain Hewitt, commanding the company of new 
levies in the engagement, who bravely fell, refu- 
sinor to retreat, was the son-in-law of Constant 
Searle. Many of the fugitives continued their jour- 
ney back to Connecticut, ascending the Delaware 
and crossing over to the Hudson at Poughkeepsie. 
It was at this place that the first account of the 



HISTORY OF WYOMING. 197 

massacre was published. It was collected from 
the lips of the panic-stricken and suffering fugi- 
tives, and was full of enormous exaggerations, such 
as the alleged massacre of women and children, the 
burning of forts full of people, &c. None of these 
tales were true, albeit they found their way into 
Dr. Thatcher's Military Journal, written at the 
time, and even into the histories of Gordon, Ram- 
say, Botta and others. A venerable old lady, Mrs. 
Bidlack, yet living in August 1839, was one of the 
captives surrendered at the fort, being then about 
sixteen years old. She stated that the Indians 
were kind to them after they were taken, except 
that they plundered them of every thing but the 
clothes upon their backs. They marked them 
with paint to prevent them from being killed by 
other Indians — a precaution often adopted by the 
red men, by whom such marks are always res- 
pected. 

Great injustice has been done to the character 
and conduct of Colonel Zebulon Butler in connec- 
tion with this tragic affair of Wyoming, by some 
ill-informed historians who have written upon the 
subject, as well because he did not attempt to rally 
the survivors, and make another stand before Fort 
Wyoming, as on account of his flight. But the 
idea is preposterous in the mind of any intelligent 
man who duly considers the circumstances in 
which he was placed. Who was there to rally? 
Could the fiife and drum pierce the ears of the slain? 
Could the dead be raised — the ashes of those who 
17* 



198 HISTORY OF WYOMING. 

had been put to the torture in the flames be revivi- 
fied by the reading of a regimental order ? Full 
one half of the males of the colony lay stiff" in 
death on the field. Had there been any body to 
rally, with the least possible chance of success, 
Zebulon Butler would have been the last man to 
fly. But there was not, and the enemy had refu- 
sed quarter to all who belonged to the continental 
army. It was therefore the duty of Colonel Butler 
to save himself and the fifteen brave survivors of 
Captain Hewitt's company. 

Zebulon Butler was not an accidental soldier. 
He had served in the old French war, with gal- 
lantry, and his associations with European offi- 
cer, had added to his imposing form and carriage 
the manners of a gentleman. His courage and 
fortitude had moreover been illustrated in the civil 
wars, for the possession of the territory he was 
now defending from foreign invasion. An idea 
of his spirit may be formed by the following inci- 
dent, connected with the very service that had 
now resulted so disastrously. It must be borne in 
mind that he was the commander of a continental 
regiment in the Connecticut line. When the peo- 
ple of Wyoming began to be alarmed in the 
spring, he was directed to repair thither, and look 
into their condition. On the receipt of his report, 
setting forth the destitution of the valley, at head- 
quarters, it was alledged that his account was ex- 
aggerated. " It is impossible," exclaimed one of 
the officers, — '' it cannot be so." The officer's 



HISTORY OF WYOMING. 199 

incredulity was reported to Colonel Butler, who 
replied, in his next despatch, " A gentleman who 
had a just regard for his own honour, would not 
so lightly suspect the honour of another." 

When the invasion actually occurred, he was 
not only unprepared, but he was compelled to 
meet the enemy, greatly superior in numbers, con- 
trary to his own better judgment. The rashness 
of the brave but undisciplined men hastily col- 
lected together compelled him to the hazard of 
the die. His dispositions for the battle were those 
of a soldier, his conduct during the battle that of 
a brave man and skillful officer ; and but for the 
untoward circumstance of the mistaken order 
which threw his left wing into confusion, the for- 
tunes of the day, notwithstanding the disparity of 
their relative forces, might yet have been different. 
He lost no character in the eyes of those who saw 
the transaction, or in the estimation of those who 
knew him ; and a long and useful life, during 
which he enjoyed richly the public confidence, is 
the most unerring test of his character.* 

So also has it been with Colonel Dennison, the 
second in rank on that fatal day. who was in com- 
mand of the left win or when it broke and fled. 



* The grave of Colonel Butler is occasionally visited by strangers. The 
stone has been embellished by some "poet of the wilderness," with the fol- 
lowing rustic but pious rhymes : — 

" Distinguished by his usefulness, 
At home and when abroad ; 
In court, in camp, and in recess, 
Protected still by God." 



200 HISTORY OF WYOMING. 

He, too, has been censured in history, if not for 
his conduct in the battle, at least for the capitu- 
lation. But as in the case of his commander, these 
censures have been most unreasonable. The cir- 
cumstances in which he found himself, when, from 
the necessary flight of Colonel Zebulon Butler, 
the command had devolved upon him, were of the 
most trying description. 

It must not be forgotten that they were only the 
fragments of a shattered and broken militia, and 
not regular troops, of whom he was in accidental 
command. By the result of the battle, the entire 
force and population of the valley were broken 
and crushed. The thought of farther resistance 
would have been more than folly — it would have 
been madness. It would not have checked for an 
hour the victorious enemy, but on the other hand 
would only have exasperated to additional mur- 
ders. And what officer ever yet succeeded in 
rallying, and bringing again into line, a band of 
flying militia with a cloud of savages upon their 
heels ? When he capitulated, he was in a defence- 
less stockade fort, filled with women and children, 
and surrounded by a savage and victorious enemy. 
But it was not true, as is stated in the books, that 
when he demanded upon what terms he might 
be allowed to surrender, the reply was " The 
Hatchet" — and that he thereupon capitulated 
unconditionally, leaving the women and children to 
a merciless horde of barbarians. On the contrary, 
the terms he made were honorable, and it was not 



HISTORY OF WYOMING. 201 

his fault that the articles were violated in resfard 
to the plunderings and burnings of the Indians. 
Colonel Dennison has been farther censured, and 
charged with bad faith in joining the expedition of 
Colonel Hartley, who, having been ordered to Wyo- 
ming soon after the devastation, proceeded against 
the Indian towns farther north upon the Susque- 
hanna. CqIoucI Dennison, who had stipulated in 
the capitulation not again to bear arms against his 
English Majesty, was an active officer under Co- 
lonel Hartley ; and the circumstance was used as 
a pretext by the bitter and bloody-minded Walter 
Butler, for the invasion and massacre of Cherry 
Yalley in the autumn of the same year.* But it 
was only a pretext. With the single exception 
that an end was put by Colonel John Butler and 
Gi-en-gwah-toh to the effusion of blood, every 
other provision of the terms of that capitulation 
was disregarded. Every thing, as has been seen, 
was plundered, the entire settlement subjected to 
pillage, and instead of the inhabitants being al- 
lowed to remain at peace in their possessions, the 
whole was given up to rapine, and finally to the 
flames. So that Colonel Dennison, on principles 
of the most scrupulous honor, and the most delicate 
propriety, was fully justified in resuming his arms. 
Colonel Dennison was one of the early emi- 
grants to Wyoming. He was a native of New- 
London county ; and on the extension of the 

* Life of Brant, Vol. I., Chap. xvii. 



202 HISTORY OF WYOMING. 

jurisdiction of Connecticut over the extensive do- 
main comprehended within the town of West- 
moreland, a regiment of miUtia being organized, 
he was commissioned its colonel. He was a g-en- 
tleman of highly respectable talents, and of liberal, 
and, it is believed, collegiate attainments. He 
was regarded by all who served with or knew him, 
as a brave and faithful officer. After*the close of 
the war, he held various important civil appoint- 
ments under the authority of Pennsylvania, and 
died at a very advanced age — as eminent for his 
sweet and unaffected piety as he had ever been 
for his patriotism — honored, loved, and wept by 
all. He had two sons, one of whom yet resides in 
the valley. The other died a few years ago, after 
having served his country in the state legislature 
and in Congress, with ability and honor. 

The fields of AYyoming were waving with heavy 
burdens of grain, ripening for the harvest, at the 
time of the invasion, and no sooner had the enemy 
retired than considerable numbers of the settlers 
returned to secure their crops. In the course of 
their flight across the mountains, a party of the 
fugitives fell in with Captain Spalding, of the 
Continental army, at the head of a company of 
regulars, on their way to assist in the defence of 
the valley. Being apprized of the melancholy 
catastrophe that had befallen it, and having no 
force adequate to engage the invaders who had 
been left rioting upon the spoils of their conquest. 
Captain Spalding retraced his steps to Strouds- 



HISTORY OF WYOMING. 203 

burg, where he remained for a month, and until 
it was ascertained that the enemy had retired. 
The captain then advanced and took possession of 
the vale of desolation, where he was soon after- 
ward joined by Colonel Zebulon Butler, who as- 
sumed the command of the station, and under 
whose direction, aided by the returning inhabit- 
ants, another fort was erected on the bank of the 
river, a short distance below the present borough 
of Wilkesbarre. This fort was occupied by Cap- 
tain Spalding, with a small garrison, for upward 
of two years, during which period many of the 
inhabitants who had escaped came back, rebuilt 
their houses, and resumed their stations in the 
settlement. 

There was, however, but little repose for the 
settlement until the close of the war. The In- 
dians were frequently hovering upon the outskirts, 
by straggling scouts, and in larger parties, in quest 
of scalps, prisoners, and plunder. Sometimes they 
appeared in considerable numbers. In the month 
of March, 1779, Captain Spalding's fort was sur- 
rounded by about two hundred and fifty Indians 
and painted tories. They commenced an attack 
upon the fort, but fled upon the discharge of a field- 
piece — destroying such property as came in their 
way. The strength of the garrison was too small to 
allow of pursuit. But the enemy did not get away 
without being obliged to engage in some sharp 
skirmishes with parties of the inhabitants, as will 
be seen in a subsequent chapter. In the succeed- 



204 HISTORY OF WYOMING. 

ing month of April, as Major Powell was leading 
a detachment of troops to reinforce the garrison 
of Wyoming, while threading a defile so narrow 
that but a single man could pass at a time, and 
utterly unconscious that a subtle enemy was 
lurking about his path, he was fired upon from an 
Indian ambuscade in Laurel Run, near the crest 
of the first mountain, and six of his men killed, of 
which number were Captain Davis and Lieutenant 
Jones. Taken thus fatally by surprise, Powell 
retreated for a short distance, to bring his men into 
order of battle, — for they had been marching at 
their ease, without any organization, or much cir- 
cumspection. The ambuscade was then charged, 
and after a few scattering fires the Indians dis- 
persed. The troops immediately entered the val- 
ley, taking with them the bodies of the ofiicers who 
had fallen, which were interred with the honours 
of war, and an appropriate though rude memorial 
placed upon their graves. 

Toward the close of June, 1771, General Sul- 
livan arrived in Wyoming, with his division of the 
army destined for the memorable expedition of that 
year against the country of the Six Nations — that of 
the Cayugas and Senecas in particular. After re- 
maining there a while, all things being ready, Sul- 
livan moved up the river to the mouth of the 
Tioga, where he was joined by General Clinton's 
division from the north. General Sullivan's bag- 
gage " occupied one hundred and twenty boats, 
and two thousand horses, the former of which 



HISTORY OF WYOMING. 205 

were arranged in regular order upon the river, 
and were propelled against the current by soldiers 
with setting-poles, the whole strongly guarded. 
The horses, laden with provisions for the daily 
subsistence of the troops, having to march singly 
in a narrow path, formed a line six miles in length. 
The flotilla upon the river formed a beautiful 
spectacle, as they moved in order from their an- 
chorage, and as they passed the fort they exchan- 
ged salutes. The whole scene formed a military 
display surpassing any which had previously been 
seen in Wyoming, and was well calculated to make 
a deep impression upon the minds of those lurk- 
ing parties of savages that still continued to 
prowl about the mountains, from the tops of which 
t?ie pageant was visible for many miles."* 

But these wily warriors were neither driven 
away, nor awed into inaction. It was not long 
after Sullivan's departure before a brisk action 
was fought between a detachment of Pennsylvania 
militia, moving to the north for the protection of 
the Lackawaxen settlements, and a party of one 
hundred and fifty Indians, in which the former 
were defeated, with the loss of between forty and 
fifty men killed and taken. Having ravaged the 
Genesee country, and laid the Indian towns waste 
by fire and sword, General Sullivan returned to 
Wyoming in October, and thence to Easton. The 
Indians, however, followed close upon his rear. 



* Chapman. 

18 



206 HISTORY OF WYOMING. 

and hung upon the borders of Wyoming until the 
close of the Wcir. Shortly after Sullivan's depar- 
ture, a detachment of militia from Northampton 
county, raised for the protection of the borderers, 
were attacked while on their march to the Sus- 
quehanna, and eleven of their number killed out- 
right, and two others mortally wounded. The 
men were surprised while refreshing themselves 
at a brook, by a party of about forty Indians, led 
by a white loyalist. The former were command- 
ed by Captain Moyer, whose good conduct after 
the first fire in part atoned for the high miUtary 
offence of allowing himself to be surprised. Ten 
of the Indians were killed, and an eleventh mor- 
tally wounded. Still they succeeded in carrying 
away three white prisoners, all of whom con- 
trived to effect their escape on the following 
night. 

Incidents of a kindred character might be mul- 
tiplied to an almost indefinite extent ; but their 
recital, from general sameness, might become tedi- 
ous ; suffice it to say, that until the final close of 
that great struggle for liberty, from the invasion of 
1778, Wyoming seemed the object of inextinguish- 
able rancour — of unappeasable hate. There was 
not an hour's security for the people. Revenge 
upon Wyoming seemed a cherished luxury to the 
infuriated savages hovering upon her outskirts on 
every side. It was all a scene of war, blood, and 
suffering — owing, in the main, to the unpardon- 
able neglect of the Continental Congress, who, 



HISTORY OF WYOMING. 207 

having drawn off the flower of the population for 
the regular service, neglected, in return, to afford 
the valley any adequate protection. In the old 
town records of Westmoreland, at a public meet- 
ing, in the latter part of April, 1780, it is recorded 
that a committee was appointed to aid the people 
in protecting their settlements, in consequence of 
tlie attacks of the enemy. In 1781, a committee 
was appointed to obtain an abatement of the state 
tax at Hartford, in consequence of the continued 
distress. And in 1782, wheat being taken for 
taxes in the town treasury, it was ordered to be 
ground and baked into biscuit to be ready for the 
scouting parties kept up by the town. There was 
therefore no repose for the inhabitants, but frequent 
fightings and continual fears. In the course of 
this harassing warfare there were many severe 
skirmishes — several heroic risings of prisoners 
upon their Indian captors — and many hair- 
breadth escapes — some of which, together with 
various details of family and individual heroism 
and suffering, on the great day of slaughter and 
afterward, will be found narrated in the succeed- 
ing chapter. 



CHAPTER VII. 



Anecdotes and biographical sketches of the living and the dead of Wyontiing, 

— Ueneral Ross, and liis family, — Visit to'tlie Field of Battle, — The Mon- 
ument, — Inspection of the Bones of the Slain, — Process of Tomahawk- 
ing, — Visit to Mrs. Myers, — Her Recollections, — Messrs. Bennett and 
Hammond, — Heroic Exploit, — Visit to Rev. Mr. Bidlack, — Mrs. Bidlack, 

— Recollections of both — The Gore /amily, — Story of the Inman fami- 
ly, — The Jenkins family, — Lieut. John Jenkins, — His captivity, — Ex- 
tracts from his Diary, — Mrs. Jenkins, his widow, — Her recollections, — 
The Wintermoots, — Mrs. Jenkins's visit to the battle field, — The Black- 
man family, — Story of :?amuel Carey and Zibbcra Hibbard, — Story of John 
Abbott, — 'J'ho VVilliams family — Heroic exploit of Sergeant Williams, 

— Story of the Weeks family, and of the Indian Anthony Turkey, — Story 
of Major Camp, — Life of Mrs. Phtbe Young, — The Slocum family, — 
Story of Frances Slocum, the " Lost Sister." 

Considering the extent of the slaughter in the 
massacre of Wyoming, the number of the survi- 
vors of that fatal day yet hngering this side of the 
grave is much greater than might have been ex- 
pected. And the still larger number of the imme- 
diate descendants of those who fell, yet inhabiting 
the valley, is also a source of surprise. Both cir- 
cumstances speak well for the place and the people 
— proving the salubrity of the climate, and the 
good taste and domestic habits of those who en- 
joy it. It is the author's design in the present 
chapter, agreeably to an intimation in the last, to 



HISTORY OF WYOMING. 209 

bring out, in bolder relief than could well be done 
in a general historical narrative, some of the ex- 
ploits and sufferings both of individuals and fami- 
lies, who were engaged in the scenes that have 
been described. And of those thus to be noticed, 
there are several persons of both sexes yet among 
the living. 

One of the most opulent, as well as respectable 
citizens yet enjoying a green old age in Wilkes- 
barre, is General William Ross. He is a native 
of Montville, in the State of Connecticut, and was 
removed to Wyoming with his father's family, 
while yet in his childhood, before the war of the 
Revolution. At the time of the invasion William 
Ross was sixteen years old. He was not, how- 
ever, ensfasred in the battle which resulted so 
disastrously, having the day before marched 
with a small scouting party, twelve miles up the 
river, to a settlement in which the Indians had 
just committed a savage butchery. In this expe- 
dition they killed two Indians, and buried five 
bodies of their fellow colonists, which had been 
sadly mangled. But young Ross had two brothers, 
older than himself, Jeremiah and Perrin, engaged 
in the battle, the latter of whom was an officer, 
and both of whom fell. Their father was already 
dead. On William, therefore, devolved the care 
of an aged mother, several sisters, and the widow 
and children of his brother Perrin. These all 
made their escape across the mountains to a place 
of safety, whence, however, the noble-spirited 
18* 



210 HISTORY OF WYOMING. 

youth returned to the scene of rapine, to save 
whatever, if any thing, might be left, and in all re- 
spects to perform his duty. He, among others, 
was charged with visiting the field of slaughter 
and burying the dead. It was more than a month 
after the event, and he assured Professor Silliman, 
in the year 1829, that owing to the intense heat 
of the weather, and probably the dryness of the 
air, the bodies were shrivelled, dry, and inof- 
fensive, but with a single exception they could not 
be recognised. They were buried in a common 
grave upon the farm now belonging to Mr. Gay.* 
Everything from his father's farm had disappear- 
ed, that the invaders could destroy or carry away. 
But being the only male of his family left, he re- 
solved to honour his name; and the consequence 
was, that he not only bore up with heroic fortitude 
against the flood of calamities that had rolled over 
the valley, but he overcame and rolled them back. 
The widows and orphans were taken care of; the 
fortunes of his house retrieved ; and he has lived 
long in the enjoyment of many public honours 
from the state of his adoption, and discharging 
every public or private trust confided to him with 
fidelity. 

A visit to the field where the battle commen- 
ced is no farther of special interest than that it 
enables one to test the descriptive accuracy of the 
books. The position of the enemy's line when 
receiving the attack may be traced, and the tan- 
gled morass still exists through which the Indians 

* Silliman'3 Journal, vol. xviii. p. 310. 



HISTORY OF WYOMING. 211 

penetrated to gain the rear of the left wing of the 
Americans, commanded by Colonel Dennison. 

Returning from the battle field, an interesting 
object for a visit is the monument which the peo- 
ple of Wyoming have commenced building, in 
honour of their patriotic ancestors who fell upon 
this consecrated aceldama. It stands upon the 
eastern side of the highway, about half a mile 
south of the village of Troy, and near the line 
where the fury of the battle ceased — not far, 
moreover, from the spot where, some weeks after 
the conflict, the remains of the dead were collected 
and buried. The monument is to consist of a 
simple obelisk, of perhaps twenty feet diameter 
atthe base, to be carried up to the height of fifty 
or sixty feet. The material is an inferior species 
of granite, quarried in the neighbourhood. The 
foundation has been deeply and substantially laid, 
and the superstructure carried up some ten or 
twelve feet above the ground. And here the work 
rests for want of funds. An application was made 
by' the people of Wyoming to the Legislature of 
Connecticut, for aid in the completion of this work 
of piety and patriotism. The case was ably 
presented to, and enforced upon that body, by 
a committee from Wyoming, at the head of which 
was Charles Miner — but without present suc- 
cess. It is to be hoped, however, that a renew- 
ed application will be more fortunate. The towns 
in Wyoming during the whole of the war of 
the Revolution, though not exactly an integral 



212 HISTORY OF WYOMING. 

part of Connecticut, yet as much belonged to that 
state as did New-London, Norvvalk, Danbury, or 
Fairfield. These towns, which were burnt and 
desolated by the enemy, received remuneration 
from the state. But neither of them suffered the 
horrors of Wyoming; and although Wyoming 
contributed her full proportion of revenue to the 
treasury of the state, and raised a goodly number 
of the " Connecticut line," and poured out her 
best blood like water, and almost swelled the tor- 
rent of the Susquehanna with her tears, yet of 
compensation she never received a dollar. And 
now that she appeals for a few thousand dollars 
to perpetuate the remembrance of the martyrs who 
bled, and ofthe cause in which they fell, it would 
be a burning shame — a disgrace which every son 
of Connecticut should forever feel — to have the 
petition denied. 

At a bouse near by the monument, preserved, 
as they should be, with holy care, are such of the 
bones of the slain as have been from time to time 
collected. These are to be deposited in a cham- 
ber ofthe monument. 

Several ofthe larger bones — of thighs, and arms, 
and shoulder-blades, are perforated with bullet- 
holes — rifle balls, evidently, by the size. Every 
skull save one bears the mark of the deadly tom- 
ahawk, and exhibits the process of the savage ope- 
ration. The Indians seem not to have struck ver- 
tically downward, but by a glancing side blow, 
chipping out a piece from the crown, of two or three 



HISTORY OF WYOMING. 



213 



inches diameter. One of the skulls received two 
strokes of the hatchet; a cut as just described upon 
the crown, and a second in the side of the head, 
just by the ear. 

About midway between the site of Fort Forty 
and the place where the conflict was began is the 
pleasant village of Troy. This is an interesting 
place, as the enemy appear to have halted in this 
neighbourhood at the close of the massacre. In 
a field about sixty rods east of the highway is the 
bloody rock upon which the prisoners were exe- 
cuted by the Indians, during the night of the bat- 
tle, as heretofore described. It has a red, or rather 
brick-dust appearance on one side, believed by the 
superstitious to have been caused by blood which 
winter storms cannot wash nor time wear away. 

Fort Forty stood upon the bank of the river, and 
the spot is preserved as a common — beautifully 
carpeted with green, but bearing no distinctive 
marks denoting the purposes for which the ground 
in those troublous times was occupied. Near the 
site of the fort, is the residence of Mrs. Myers, a 
widow lady of great age, but of clear mind and 
excellent memory, who is a survivor of the Wyo- 
ming invasion, and the horrible scenes attending 
it. Mrs. Myers was the daughter of a Mr. Ben- 
nett, whose family was renowned in the domestic 
annals of Wyoming, both for their patriotism and 
their courage. She was born in 1762, and was of 
course sixteen years old at the time of the invasion. 



214 HISTORY OF WYOMING. 

She was in Fort Forty when Colonel Zebulon But- 
ler marched out at the head of the provincials 
against the enemy. Her recollections of all that 
passed beneath her eye on that occasion are remark- 
ably vivid. The column marched forth three or 
four abreast, in good spirits, though not uncon- 
scious of the danger they were to encounter.* Still, 
they were not apprized of the odds against them 
since the enemy had most skilfully concealed their 
strength. 

Soon after the departure of the provincials, seve- 
ral horsemen galloped up from below, their steeds 
in a foam, and the sweat dripping from their sides. 
They proved to be Captain Durkee, Lieutenant 
Pearce, and another officer, who, having heard of 
the invasion, had left the detachment of troops to 
which they belonged, then distant fifty miles, and 
ridden all night to aid in the defence of their wives, 
their children, and their homes. "A morsel of 
food and we will follow," said these brave men. 
The table was hastily spread, and they all partook 
of their last meal. Before the sun went down they 
were numbered with the dead. The inmates of 
the fort could distinctly hear the firing, from the 
commencement of the battle. At first, from its 
briskness, they were full of high hopes. But as 
it began to change into a scattered fire, and the 
sounds grew nearer and nearer, their hearts sank 
with the apprehension that the day was lost, and 

* One of the settlors, a man named Finch, had been shot and scalped two 
days before, in a gorge of the mountains near the upper section of the valley. 



HISTORY OF WYOMING. 215 

their defenders on the retreat. The suspense was 
dreadful, and was sustained until nearly night-fall, 
when a few of the fugitives rushed into the fort, 
and fell down, wounded, exhausted and bloody ! 

Mrs. Myers was present at the capitulation on 
the following day, and saw the victorious entrance 
of the enemy, six abreast, with drums beating and 
colours flying. The terms of capitulation were fair 
and honourable, but as the reader has already seen, 
the Indians regarded them not, and immediately be- 
gan to rob, plunder, burn, and destroy. Col. Den- 
nison, according to the relation of Mrs. Myers, sent 
for Colonel John Butler, the British commander. 
They sat down together by a table on which the ca- 
pitulation had been signed, (yet carefully preserv- 
ed by Mrs. Myers.) She and a younger girl were 
seated within the fort close by, and heard every 
word they uttered. Colonel Dennison complained 
of the injuries and outrages then enacting by the 
savages. " I will put a stop to it, sir — I will put a 
stop to it," said Colonel Butler. But the plunder- 
ing continued, and Butler was again sent for by 
Colonel Dennison, who remonstrated sharply with 
him at the violation of the treaty. " We have sur- 
rendered our fort and arms to you," said Colonel 
Dennison, " on the pledge of your faith that both 
life and property should be protected. Articles of 
capitulation are considered sacred by all civilized 
people." " I tell you what, sir," replied Colonel 
Butler, waving his hand emphatically, " I can do 



216 HISTORY OF WYOMING. 

nothing with them: I can do nothing with them." 
And probably he could not, for the Indians, in the 
end, had the audacity to strip Colonel Dennison 
himself of his hat and rifle-frock, (a dress then 
often worn by the officers.) Colonel D. was not 
inclined to submit peaceably to this outrage, but 
tlie brandishing of a tomahawk over his head com- 
pelled his acquiescence — not, however, until, dur- 
ing the parley, the colonel had adroitly transferred 
his purse to one of the young ladies present, un- 
observed by the Indians. This purse contained 
only a few dollars — but it was in fact the whole 
military chest of Wyoming. 

Mrs. Myers represents Colonel John Butler as 
a portly, good looking man, of perhaps forty-five, 
dressed in green, the uniform of his corps, with a 
cap and plumes. On the capitulation of Fort 
Forty, as the victorious Butler entered it, his 
quick eye rested upon a sergeant of the "Wyo- 
ming troops, named Boyd, a young Englishman, 
a deserter from the royal ranks, who had been 
serviceable in drilling the American recruits. 
" Boyd !" exclaimed Butler on recognising him, 
" Go to that tree !" " 1 hope your honour," re- 
plied Boyd, " will consider me a prisoner of war." 
" Go to that tree !" repeated Butler with emphasis. 
The deserter complied with the order, and at a 
siofnal was shot down. Butler drew his white 
forces away from the valley shortly after the ca- 
pitulation. But the Indians remained about the 



HISTORY OF WYOMING. 217 

settlements, and finished the work of destruction.* 
In about a week after the battle the torch was ap- 
plied to most of the dwelling houses then remain- 
ing, and Mrs. Myers saw that of her father, Mr. 
Bennett, in flames among the number. He, with 
his family, thereupon fled from the valley to a place 
of greater security — Mrs. Myers and her sister, 
Mrs. Tuttle, being among the fugitives. 

Mr. Bennett returned to Wyoming early in the 
following spring, and was soon afterward captured 
by a party of six Indians, with his son, then a lad, 
and Mr. Hammond, a neighbour, while at work in 
the fleld. The Indians marched them toward the 
North, but during the night of the second or third 
day, their expedition was brought to a sudden and 
most unexpected close. From a few words dropped 
by one of the Indians, Mr. Bennett drew the in- 
ference that it was their design to murder them. 
Having requested of the Indian the use of his 
moccasin awl to set a button, '' No want button 
for one night," was the gruff" and laconic reply. 
He therefore resolved, if possible, to effect an es- 
cape, and while the captors had left them a few 
moments to slake their thirst at a spring, a plan 

* It has been stated by several authors, that the British Colonel Butler 
was a kinsman of Colonel Zcbulon Butler. But the fact is not so. Colonel 
John Butler was an opulent gentleman residing in the Mohawk valley, a 
neighbour and personal friend of Sir William, and afterward of Sir John 
Johnson. It was his misfortune to be engaged in a branch of the service 
which has covered his name, in history, with any thing but honour. Still he 
was a very respectable man, as were many other loyalists. After the close 
of the war of the revolution, ho was retained in the British Canadian ser- 
vice, and died at an advanced age, much respected by those who knew him. 

19 



218 HISTORY OF WYOMING. 

for that purpose was concerted. Mr. Bennett, 
being in years, was permitted to travel unbound. 
Hammond and the boy were pinioned. At night 
they all lay down to sleep, except one of the In- 
dians and Mr. Bennett. The latter, having ga- 
thered the wood to keep up the fire for the night, 
sat down, and soon afterward carelessly took 
the Indian's spear in his hand, and began to play 
with it upon his lap. The Indian now and then 
cast a half-suspicious glance upon him, but con- 
tinued his employment — picking the scanty flesh 
from the head of a deer which he had been roast- 
ing. The other Indians, wearied, had wrapped 
themselves in their blankets, and by their snoring 
gave evidence of being in a deep slumber. 

The Indian left upon the watch, moreover, be- 
gan to nod over his supper as though half asleep. 
Watching his opportunity, therefore, Mr. Bennett 
by a single thrust transfixed the savage with his 
own spear, who fell across the burning logs with 
a groan. Not an instant was lost in cutting loose 
the limbs of Hammond and the lad. The other 
Indians were in the same breath attacked by the 
three, and the result was that five of the tawny 
warriors were slain, and the sixth fled howling 
with the spear sticking in his back. The victors 
thereupon returned in triumph to the valley, bear- 
ing as trophies the scalps of the slain. 

In the pleasant town of Kingston, on the west 
side of the river, opposite the borough of Wilkes- 
barre, resides the Rev. Benjamin Bidlack, a clergy- 



HISTORY OF WYOMING. 



219 



man of the Methodist denomination, who, and his 
lady, are survivors of the memorable scenes of 
1778, already described. This venerable man is 
between eighty and ninety years of age, and of 
clear and sound mind. He is of a tall and athletic 
form, of intellectual and strongly marked features 
and in the full pride of manhood his presence 
must have been commanding. Mr. Bidlack was 
not himself in the battle of Wyoming, not being 
at home at the time of its occurrence. But 
he had a brother. Captain James Bidlack, Jr.. in 
that bloody affair, who bravely fell at the head of 
his company, only eight of whom escaped the 
horrors of that day. He entered the field with 
but thirty-two rank and file, twenty-four of whom 
were slain. His station was near the left wing, 
but he refused to move from his post, although 
the greater portion of his comrades had broken 
and were in full flight. Their father, James Bid- 
lack, senior, was one of the fathers of the settle- 
ment ; and when the middle-aged portion of their 
population was drawn away by enlistment in the 
continental army, the old gentleman commanded 
a corps of aged men, exempts, and kept garrison 
in one of their little forts, called Plymouth. Ben- 
jamin went early into the regular service. He 
was with Washington in the vicinity of Boston, 
in the summer of 1775, and saw the evacuation 
of the " rebel town" by General Sir William Howe. 
His term of enlistment expired in 1777, where- 
upon he returned to his parental home, and for a 



220 HISTORY OF WYOMING. 

season engaged in the most hazardous and fa- 
tiguing service of the border. Engaging again in 
the regular service, he continued in the army 
until the effectual conclusion of the war by the 
brilliant conquest of Lord Cornwallis, at York- 
town, in the siege of which fortress he partici- 
pated. Speaking of the affair one day, Mr. Bid- 
lack said, " Our batteries i)layed night and day : 
it was an incessant blaze and thunder — roar and 
flash. Midnight was lighted up so that you might 
pick up a glove, almost any where about the 
works." 

In the course of the war he once became a pri- 
soner to the enemy. Like Hamlet's Yorick, he 
was, when younsf, a fellow of infinite humour — 
and as strong and athletic, at least, as the shorn 
Samson. And as with Samson, the Philistines 
into whose hands he fell would fain, from day to 
day, bring Bidlack forth to make them sport. He 
sang capital songs, among which was one called 
"The Swaggering Man," each verse ending — 

" And away went tlie swaggering man." 

This was a favourite song with the captors, and 
they urged him repeatedly to sing it — which he 
very cheerfully did — for he was as full of fun as 
any of them — insisting, however, that they must 
enlarge their circle, and give him space "to act 
the part." And this he did to admiration — at 
least in one instance. Having by his conduct 
allayed all suspicion of sinister intentions, and in- 



HISTORY OF WYOMING. 



221 



duced his guards to give him ample room where- 
in to exercise his limbs while singing their favour- 
ite songj as he sang the last line — 

" And away went the swaggering man," 

suiting the action to the words, he sprang from 
the circle like a leaping panther, and bounded 
away with a fleetness that distanced competition, 
and gained his liberty. 

In 1779, the year subsequent to the massacre, 
during a sudden irruption of the Indians, Mr. 
James Bidlack, the father, was seized and carried 
into captivity, and did not obtain a release until 
the close of the war. He also lost another son in 
battle before the close of the contest. The old 
gentleman died about thirty years ago. It is 
many years since Benjamin became a minister of 
the gospel. From his great age he no longer offi- 
ciates in that capacity, but it is said of his preach- 
ing " that he spoke as he had fought, with impres- 
sive earnestness and ardent sincerity." 

The venerable consort of Mr. Bidlack was 
eighty-one years of age in the year 1839, and of 
course must have been twenty at the time of the 
battle. Her maiden name was Gore, a member of 
the brave family so many of whom fell in the 
massacre, as related in a preceding chapter. Five 
of her brothers and two brothers-in-law went into 
the battle, and her father, who had been commis- 
sioned a magistrate in the preceding spring, by 
Governor Trumbull, was one of the aged men 
19* 



222 HISTORY OF WYOMING. 

left for the defence of Fort Forty, while Colonel 
Butler marched forth to meet the enemy. Five 
of her brothers were left dead on the field, and a 
sixth was wounded. She was herself taken pri- 
soner in Fort Wyoming, and one of the Indians 
placed his mark upon her as a protection. She 
stated* that after the capitulation the Indians 
treated the prisoners kindly, although they plun- 
dered them of every thing except the clothes they 
had on. Some of the females, in order to save 
what they could, arrayed themselves in three or 
four dresses. On discovering the artifice, how- 
ever, the Indians compelled them to disrobe, by 
threats of having their throats cut. 

But although enjoying the protection of her In- 
dian captors, such were their apprehensions for 
the future that Mrs. Bidlack fled from the valley 
nine days afterward, and crossed the fearful forests 
and fens of the Pokono mountains to Strouds- 
burg, taking an infant, or younger sister, with 
her. Two of her brothers who fell, Asa and 
Silas, were ensigns. The one who escaped, 
Daniel, was the lieutenant in Captain Durkee's 
company, the station of which was the right wing, 
" a few rods below Wintermoot's fort, close to the 
old road that led up through the valley. Stepping 
into the road, a ball struck him in the arm ; tearing 
from his body a portion of his shirt, he applied 
a hasty bandage. Just at that moment Captain 

♦ To tho author, on a visit made to Mr. and Mrs. Bidlack, in 1839. 



HISTORY OF WYOMING. 223 

Durkee stepped into the road at the same place. 
*Look out !' said Mr. Gore, ' there are some of the 
savages concealed under yonder heap of logs.' 
At that instant a bullet struck Captain Durkee in 
the thigh. When retreat became inevitable, Mr. 
Gore endeavoured to assist his captain from the 
field but found it impossible ; and Durkee said, 
*Save yourself, Mr. Gore — my fate is sealed.' 
Lieutenant Gore then escaped down the road, and 
leaping the fence about a mile below, lay couched 
close under a bunch of bushes. While there, an 
Indian sprang over the fence and stood near him. 
Mr. Gore said he could see the white of his eye, 
and was almost sure he was discovered. A mo- 
ment after a yell was raised on the flats below, 
when the Indian drew up his rifle and fired, and 
instantly ran off" in that direction."* In the gray of 
twilight, after the fury of the enemy seemed to 
have spent itself. Gore heard two persons in con- 
versation near the road where he was lying, one 
of whom, by his voice, he judged to be Colonel 
John Butler, the enemy's leader. " It has been a 
hard day for the Yankees," said one of them. 
" Yes," replied the other, " there has been blood 
enough shed." 

The name of one of Mrs. Bidlack's brothers-in- 
law, who fell, was Murfee. In the evening the 
distress of his wife was very great — and rendered 
still more poignant by the apprehension that he 

• Hazletoa Travellers. 



224 HISTORY OF WVOMING. 

might have been captured, and would be put to 
the torture. It was some relief to the bitterness of 
her anguish to learn on the following day that he 
had been killed outright. Mrs. Murfee, too, fled 
to the mountains, and wandered back to her na- 
tive place, — Norwich, in Connecticut, — where a 
few days after her arrival among her friends, she 
gave birth to an infant. 

This case of the Gore family is certainly one of 
the most remarkable in the history of man. 
Rarely, indeed, if ever in the progress of the most 
bloody civil conflicts, has it happened before, or 
since, that a father and six sons have been en- 
gaged in the same battle-field. Five corpses of a 
single family sleeping upon the cold bed of death 
together, upon the self same night. What a price 
did that family pay for liberty ! 

There was, however, another case nearly par- 
allel, and equally interesting. A brave family re- 
sided in the valley named Inman, consisting of 
the father, mother, and seven sons. The former 
was too old to 2:0 into the fiorht. Five of the sons 
went ; and two others, one of whom was nineteen 
years old, and the other quite a lad, would have 
gone but for the want of arms. It was one of the 
many untoward circumstances under which the 
people were suflering, that by the terms of enlist- 
ment prescribed by Congress, the regular troops 
raised in Wyoming were obliged to supply their 
own arms. Hence, at the time of the invasion, all 
the best arms of the valley were with the soldiers 



HISTORY OF WYOMING. 226 

attached to the continental army. Two of the 
younger Inmans, therefore, were compelled to re- 
main at home with their aged parents. Two of 
those who went forth, Elijah and Israel, went to 
return no more — both having been slain. " Two 
escaped without injury ; and the fifth, hotly pur- 
sued, plunged into the river, overheated with ex- 
ertion, and hid himself under the willows. He 
might as well have fallen in the fight ; for a cold 
settled upon his lungs, and carried him in a few 
weeks to his grave."* Of the two brothers who 
escaped, one, Richard, had the satisfaction of 
saving the life of his neighbour, Rufus Bennett, 
from the tomahawk of a stalwart Indian, when in 
the act of leaping upon him. Bennett and the In- 
dian had both fired without eftect, and the latter, 
with his uplifted tomahawk flashing in the air, 
was in the act of springing upon him, when the 
rifle of Richard Inman brought him with a con- 
vulsive bound dead within a few feet of his in- 
tended victim. But the tale of sorrow in this pa- 
triotic family is not yet ended. In common with 
the other surviving inhabitants of the valley, the 
parents with their remaining sons escaped to the 
Delaware. With others, however, toward winter, 
they returned for the purpose of sowing their fields 
with wheat. Soon after the season of snows had 
set in, one of the young men, Isaac, aged nineteen, 
imao-inino- that he heard the rustling of a flock of 

* Hazleton Travellers, 



226 HISTORY OF WYOMING. 

wild turkeys in a neighbouring forest, sallied 
forth with his fowling-piece to bring some of them 
in — not anticipating that danger was lurking so 
near. He had not been long in the forest before 
the discharge of a musket was heard, and the fa- 
mily were shortly expecting his return, laden with 
the prize of his skill. He came not. A sleepless 
night was passed, but there was no return. The 
hearts of his fond parents sank within them at 
the tidings that the trail of an Indian scouting 
party had been discovered in the neighbourhood. 
Still hope ever whispered the flattering tale that 
their young and promising son, — for he was in- 
deed a youth of uncommon grace and beauty, — 
had been taken a captive, and would perhaps find 
his way back in the spring. But, alas ! the spring 
came, and the dissolving snow revealed a sadder 
tale. The body of the youth was found in the 
edge of a little creek passing through the farm. 
He had been shot, and an Indian's war-club lay 
by his side. His body was cruelly mangled and 
his light silken hair was yet stained with blood, 
drawn by the hatchet and scalping-knife.* 

" Death found strange beauty on his manly brow, 
And dashed it out." 

Thus perished four of this devoted family in the 
course of that memorable year.j- 

The name of Colonel John Jenkins has more 

* Hazleton Travellers. 

t One of the survivors of these melancholy scenes, Colonel Edward In- 
man, a man of wealth and character, yet, (1839,) resides in the valley, a few 
miles below Wilkesbarr6. 



HISTORY OF WYOMING. 



227 



than once occurred in the preceding pages. This 
gentleman was an early emigrant to the valley, 
and presided at the meeting of the inhabitants 
in the beginning of the revolutionary troubles, 
when the patriotic resolutions mentioned in a for- 
mer chapter, in opposition to the unconstitutional 
acts of Parliament, were adopted. The old gentle- 
man was an active patriot until after the massa- 
cre, when he removed to Orange county in the 
State of New- York ; closing there an honourable 
and well-spent life. He had a son, Lieutenant 
John Jenkins, no less a patriot than himself, who 
had been married shortly previous to the massa- 
cre, and who did the cause good service. He was 
taken prisoner by a band of Indians, while on a 
reconnoitring party, near Wyalusing, several 
miles above Wyoming, in ]November,1777, and car- 
ried to Niagara. It happened that, at the same time, 
the Americans he.'d captive at Albany a distin- 
guished Indian warrior, for whom Colonel John 
Butler determined to exchange Mr. Jenkins. For 
this purpose he sent the latter to the American 
lines, under a strong escort of Indians. But the 
party was short of provisions, and from the fa- 
tigues of the march, and other privations, Mr. Jen- 
kins almost perished. Nay, he came near being 
murdered in one of the drunken carousals of the 
Indians, and was only saved by the fidelity 
of a young warrior, whom he had succeeded 
in securing as his friend. This faithful savage 
kept himself perfectly sober, in order to the more 
effectual preservation of the life of his prisoner. 



228 HISTORY OF WYOMING. 

On the arrival of the party in the neighbourhood 
of Albany, it was ascertained that the chief for 
whom Jenkins was to be exchanged had died of 
the small pox. The Indians, greatly incensed at 
this loss of a favorite warrior, were resolved upon 
taking Jenkins back with them into captivity, and 
Jenkins himself believed it was their intention to 
murder him as soon as they should have with- 
drawn beyond striking distance from Albany. His 
release, however, was ultimately negotiated, and 
he made his way back to Wyoming, to the com- 
pany of his friends, and to the embrace of his 
young wife, whom he had recently married. 

During the latter years of the war, Lieutenant 
Jenkins was in the habit of keeping a diary, or re- 
cord of current events in the valley. From this 
diary a few extracts have been made, which show 
how constantly the settlers were harassed by the 
subtle and ever-active enemy with whom they 
were obliofed to contend : — 

" January Wth^ 1780. A party of men set out 
to go through the swamp, (across the Pokono 
range) on snow-shoes, the snow about three feet 
deep. 

^^ Feb. 2d. — Two soldiers went to Capowes, 
and froze themselves badly. 

" Feb. 7th. — Colonel Butler set out for New- 
England. 

" March 27th. — Bennett and son, and Ham- 
mond taken and carried oif — supposed to be done 
by the Indians. The same day Upson killed and 



HISTORY OF WYOMING. 229 

scalped near William Stewart's house, and young 
Rogers taken. 

" March 28//i. — Several scouting parties sent 
out, but made no discoveries of the enemy. 

" March 29th. — Esquire Franklin went to Hun- 
tington on a scout, and was attacked by the In- 
dians, at or near his own house, and two of his 
party murdered — Ransom and Parker. 

" March 30th, — Mrs. Pike came in this day, 
and informed that she and her husband were in 
the woods making sugar, and were surrounded by 
a party of about thirty Indians, who had several 
prisoners with them, and two horses. They took 
her husband and carried him off with them, and 
painted her and sent her in. They killed the 
horses before they left the cabin where she was. 
One of the prisoners told her that the Indians had 
killed three or four men at Fishing Creek. 

" Captain Spaldmg set out for Philadelphia this 
morning, (fcc. This day the Indians took Jones-, 
Avery, and Lyon, at Cooper's. 

*' April ith. — Pike, and two men from Fishing 
Creek, and two boys that were taken by the In- 
dians, made their escape by rising on their guard 
often Indians — killed three — and the rest took 
to the woods naked, and left the prisoners with 
twelve guns and about thirty blankets, <fcc. These 
the prisoners got safe to the fort. 

" May \7th. — Sergeant Baldwin went to 
Lackawana, and found a man which ran away 
from the Indians, and brought him in. He in- 
20 



230 HISTORY OF WYOMING. 

formed that he was taken by a party often Indians 
and one tory, near Fort Allen.* This day the peo- 
ple were alarmed on both sides of the river. Wil- 
liam Perry came in from Delaware in the evening, 
and informed that about sunrise this morning he 
saw a party of Indians near the Laurel Run, and 
several parties between that and the fort, by rea- 
son of which he was detained until that time in 
coming in. 

'■^ May ISth. — Several reconnoitring parties 
sent out, but made no discoveries except a few 
tracks in the road near the mountain. 

"/?me lOih. — A party of our men brought in 
three tories, which they took at Waysock's. 
These set out from New- York with the intent to 
travel through the country to Niagara — Bowman 
and son, Hover and Philip Buck in company, but 
(the latter) made their escape when the others 
were taken. 

"////y llth. — Bowman, Hover, and Sergeant 
Leaders, sent to head-quarters in order for trial. 

" Monday^ Sept. Ath. — Sergeant Baldwin and 
Searle came in from a scout, and brought in a 
horse and a quantity of plunder of different kinds, 
which they took from a party of Indians near 
Tunkhannock creek, on Saturday before. 

^^ Thursday Sept. Mth. — Lieutenant Myers, 
from Fort Allen, came into the Fort, and said he 
had made his escape from the Indians the night 
before, and that he had been taken in the Scotch 

* Fort Allen was upon the Lcliigh river, in tlie neiglibourhood of the Mo- 
ravian settlements, fifty miles south, or southeast of Wyoming. 



HISTORY OF WYOMING. 



231 



Yalley, and that he had thirty-three men with him, 
which he commanded. He was surrounded by 
the Indians, and thirteen of his men killed, and 
three taken. This day we heard that Fort Jen- 
kins and Hervey's Mills were burnt. 

" December ^th. — In the morning a party of 
tories and Indians took some prisoners from Shaw- 
wanee — [west of the river, two miles below 
Wilkesbarre.] Did no other damage, except 
taking a small quantity of plunder. 

^^ Deceinhcr 6th. — A party of our men sent 
after them, and pursued them three days, and 
gave out. 

"/a?i. 23d, 1781. — Captain Mitchell came to 
Wyoming in order to release Colonel Butler. 

" January 2ith. — Captain Selin and myself 
set out for Philadelphia." 

Lieutenant Jenkins was an active officer during 
the whole contest, and signalized himself in sev- 
eral brisk affairs with the Indians. When Gen- 
eral Sullivan marched from Wyoming to lay 
waste the Genesee country, he selected Lieuten- 
ant Jenkins as his guide or conductor. He fought 
bravely in the battle of Newtown, and after the 
close of the war, was for many years a surveyor 
in the Susquehanna and Genesee countries. He 
became an influential citizen in Wyoming, and 
held various important offices, — sometimes repre- 
sentins: the County of Luzerne in the Legisla- 
ture of Pennsylvania. He was the leader of the 
democratic party in that county, and died only 



232 HISTORY OF WYOMING. 

about twelve years ago, — greatly respected by 
all who knew him. 

The widow of Lieutenant, or rather Colonel 
Jenkins — for, like his father, he had long worn 
the latter title before his death — Mrs. Berthia 
Jenkins, yet survives, at the age of eighty six. — 
For a lady of her years, she is remarkably active, 
and her mind and memory are still unclouded. 
It will be borne in mind that on entering the val- 
ley, the first halt of Colonel Butler and his Indian 
allies, was at Fort Wintermoot, upon the west 
bank of the river perhaps a mile above the bat- 
tle field. Mrs. Jenkins, then just married, was 
in Fort Jenkins, at the time of Butler's arrival, 
about a mile yet farther to the north. The fideli- 
ty of the Wintermoots to the cause of the revolu- 
tion, had been questioned previous to the arrival 
of Colonel John Butler, and the erection of their 
little fort had caused some remark, inasmuch as 
Fort Jenkins was so near that this additional 
stockade was hardly deemed necessary. But on 
the arrival of the enemy, all disguise was thrown 
off by the Wintermoots, and Colonel Butler with 
his troops and Indians were received as friends, — 
showing that there had been a perfect understand- 
ing between the parties, and that the suspected 
family had in fact been plotting the destruction of 
their own neigrhbours. A detachment was imme- 
diately sent against Fort Jenkins, with a demand 
for its surrender, — a demand which could not be 
resisted, as there were only nine or ten persons in 



HISTORY OF WYOMING. 233 

the little defence, old and young. Mrs. Jenkins 
of course became a prisoner. This was on the 2d 
of July. The battle was on the 3rd, and the 
moment it was known that the Yankees were 
marching up to the attack from Fort Forty, the 
detachment which had taken Fort Jenkins was 
recalled to the main body. Mrs. Jenkins follow- 
ed to the distance of half way between the forts, 
and sat down upon a stump in the field, with 
an anxious heart, to await the issue. She heard 
the firing as it commenced and ran along the 
line from right to left, until it became general. — 
iShe also heard the war-whoops of the Indians. 
By and bye the whoopings became more fierce, 
and the firing broken. Then it was less frequent 
and more distant, while the yells of the savages 
grew more frightful, giving " signs of wo that all 
was lost." The next morning the prisoners from 
Fort Jenkins were taken down to Wintermoot's. 
Among them was a Mrs. Gardiner, whose hus- 
band had been taken in the skirmish at Exeter 
two days before. She was now permitted to go 
down to the enemy, to take leave of him. Mrs. 
Jenkins, and a Mrs. Baldwin, whose husband was 
in the battle, with an old man, her father-in-law, 
carrying a flag, were allowed to go in company 
with Mrs. Gardiner. Mrs. Baldwin could obtain no 
tidinsfs of her husband, and returned with a hea- 
vier heart than she went. This visit enabled Mrs. 
Jenkins to take a survey of the battle field ; and 
her descriptions are as vivid as they are shocking. 
20* 



234 HISTORY OF WYOMING. 

She discovered numbers among the dead, of her 
late friends and neighbours. In one place there 
was a circle of the dead, lying as they had fallen, 
scalped and mangled. In another, were the 
smouldering embers of a fire, around which were 
strowed the half-burnt limbs of those who had been 
put to death by torture.* By some means the lib- 
eration of Mrs. Jenkins was effected, and she fled 
the valley with other fugitives, returning thither 
eighteen months afterward. It is an interesting 
fact related by Mrs. Jenkins, that the people of 
Wyoming were in part dependent upon themselves 
for their own gun-powder, which the women 
rudely manufactured by leeching the earth for 
the salt-petre, and then compounding it with char- 
coal and sulphur as best they could with such 
means as were at hand. 

There was a brave family named Blackman 
residents of the valley, two of whom, then young 
men, now far down the vale of years, are yet liv- 
ing, — farmers of wealth and character. Their 
father, being too old to go out upon the war-path, 
remained within Fort "Wyoming during the ac- 
tion, performing his duty, however, as an officer 
of a veteran corps previously instituted, called 
the Reformadoes. Mr. Blackman's eldest son, 
Eleazer, went into the battle, with a young man 
named David Spofford, who, two months before, 

* Scarse could he footing find in that fowle way, 
For many corses, like a great lay-stall, 
Which murdered men, which therein s^roir cd lay 
Without remorse, or decent funcrall. 

Spencer's Faerie Quecne. 



HISTORY OF WYOMING. 235 

had been married to his sister, — Louisa Black- 
man. The two young men together with a 
brother of SpofFord, named Phineas, fought side 
by side, until David received his death-wound. 
Falling upon his brother's arm, he said, — "I am 
mortally hurt, — take care of Louisa!'' These 
were his last words. Other members of the Black- 
man family did good service during the war, in 
the valley and elsewhere. 

x\mong the survivors of the massacre, yet lin- 
gering in the valley, are Mr. Samuel Carey and 
Mr. Baldwin. The former was nineteen years 
old at the time of the battle. He belonged to Cap- 
tain Bidlack's company, forming a part of the left 
wing of the line, which was first out-flanked and 
thrown into confusion. In the flight that ensued 
he was accompanied by Zippera Ilibbard, his file- 
leader in the line. Hibbard was also a young 
man, remarkable for the height and beauty of his 
form, as well as for his great strength and superior 
agility. In all the athletic sports among the set- 
tlers he was a leader, and such were his muscu- 
lar powers, and his feats of running and leaping, 
that had he lived to engage in the Olympic games 
of classic Greece, he would doubtless often have 
won the crown. 

He had just been married at the lime of the 
invasion, and tradition reports the parting scene 
from his youthful bride to have been one of ten- 
der interest. Fear was. a stranger to his breast; 
but there were tics binding him to his home which 
could not be severed without a severe struggle. 



236 HISTORY OF WYOMING. 

He knew, from the superiority of the enemy's 
force, that the battle would be fought upon un- 
equal terms, and perhaps his mind was clouded 
with a presentiment that he should not return 
from the field he was preparing to enter. After 
adjusting his arms, therefore, he yet for a moment 
lingered — stepped forward, and back again — 
paused — and musingly hesitated. At length he 
ran back to the embrace of his bride, imparted 
another parting kiss upon her pale and trembling 
lips — but spoke not a word, as he tore himself 
finally away. '' The next hour," to quote the 
words of Charles Miner, " there was not a soldier 
that marched to the field with more cheerful alac- 
rity." 

But alas! If he had entertained any gloomy 
forebodings, they were but too fatally realized. 
In their flight, Hibbard and Carey took to a field 
of rye, tall, and ready for the sickle. The former 
being in advance, broke the path for his junior 
comrade ; and in doing so, by the time they had 
crossed the field, he became fatigued almost to 
exhaustion. Their object was to escape to the 
island already mentioned ; but the Indians were 
in hot pursuit, and Hibbard was overtaken just 
as he had gained the' sandy beach, and ere he 
could reach the stream. He turned to defend 
himself, but in the same instant fell transfixed by 
the spear of his dusky pursuer. 

Young Carey was more fortunate. Having 
been less fatigued in the rye field than his com- 
panion who had broken the way, he was enabled 



HISTORY OF WYOMING. 237 

to continue his flight farther down the river, he- 
fore he attempted crossing to the island. The 
Indians, however, watchincr his movements, swam 
the river above more rapidly than himself, and he 
reached the island only to become their prisoner. 
He was then compelled to rccross the riv^er by 
swimming-, and carried back to Fort Wintermoot. 
This defence had been fired by the enemy them- 
selves, and was yet in flames when Carey reached 
it. The painfulncss of the scene was increased 
by the sight of the bodies of one or more of his 
neighbours, which had been thrown upon the 
burmng pile — 

" By the smoke of their ashes to poison the gale : " 

but whether they had been thus disposed of be- 
fore or after death, he could not tell. He had been 
stripped to his skin previous to leaving the island, 
and was threatened with menacing strokes of the 
scalping knife. 

But his life was reserved for another desthiy. 
It appeared that his captor was Captain Roland 
Montour, of whose mother an account has already 
been given. After passing the night, bound to the 
earth, he was accosted the next morning by Col. 
John Butler himself, who reminded the stripling 
of a threat he had made on the preceding day, 
that '■'• he would comb the Colonel's hair," which 
threat had been repeated to the Tory commander. 
Montour then came and unbound him, and after 
giving him some food, led him to a young Indian 
warrior who was dying. A conversation ensued 



238 HISTORY OF WYOMING. 

between the captor and the dying warrior, which 
Carey did not then understand. It afterward ap- 
peared that Montour was negotiating with the 
young warrior for the adoption of Carey by the 
Indian's parents, after the custom of those people, 
as a substitute for the son they were then losing. 
The dying Indian assented to the arrangement, 
and the life of the prisoner was saved. He was 
painted, and received the name of him whose place 
he was destined to take in the Indian family — 
Co-con-e-un-quo — of the Onondaga tribe. 

On the retreat of the enemy, Carey was taken 
into the Indian country with them, and handed 
over to the family of which he had now become 
a member. But though treated with kindness by 
the Indians, he was too old to be broken into 
their habits of life. He sighed for his liberty and 
the associations of his own kindred and people. 
His new parents saw that he was not likely to be- 
come a contented child, and as consequently the 
place of the one they had lost was not filled, they 
mourned their own son even as David mourned for 
Absalom. Mr. Carey gives a touching account of 
their sorrow. Often did he hear them, as they 
awoke at day-break, setting up their pitiful cry 
for their son. And as the sun sank to rest behind 
the purple hills at evening, they would repeat the 
same wailing lament. 

He resided with this family in the Indian coun- 
try more than two years, after which he was taken 
to Niagara, where he remained until the end of 



HISTORY OF WYOMING. 



239 



the war, and the surrender of the prisoners. It 
was on the 29th of June, 17S1, that he once more 
found himself in the bosom of the vale of Wy- 
oming. He subsequently married Theresa Gore, 
a daughter of Captain Daniel Gore, who was him- 
self in the battle, and five of whose brothers and 
brothers-in-law were slain, as the reader has al- 
ready been informed. He has resided in the val- 
ley ever since, and although the morning of his 
life was stormy and sad, yet, surrounded by his 
sons and daughters and their descendants, its 
evening is tranquil and serene. There were two 
other Careys engaged in the action, Joseph and 
Samuel, both of whom fell. But they were of 
another family. The family of the Samuel Carey, 
of whom some account has been given already, 
were from the county of Dutchess in the State of 
New- York. 

A brief history of another family of sufferers 
will perhaps be interesting. Among the early 
settlers of the valley was a respectable man named 
John Abbott, who, at the time of the invasion, had 
a family consisting of a wife and nine children. 
As has already been stated, more than once, there 
was but a single field-piece in the valley, which 
was kept at the little fort of Wilkesbarre, to be 
used as an alarm gun. On the approach of dan- 
ger, it was announced from its brazen throat, and 
the inhabitants obeyed the signal by rallying for 
the common defence. When the news of the in- 
vasion by the Tories and Indians reached Wilkes- 



240 HISTORY OF WYOMING. 

barre, Abbott was at work with his oxen upon the 
flats, whence he was summoned by the well- 
known sound of alarm. Though the husband 
and parent of nine young children, the eldest of 
whom was but eleven years old, all depending 
upon his labour for support, might well have been 
excused from going into battle, yet he sought no 
exemption. The danger was imminent, and with 
as much alacrity as his neighbours he hastened 
to the battle-field. In the retreat he succeeded, 
by the aid of a comrade, for he could not swim, 
in crossing to Monockonock Island, and thence to 
the main land on the east of the river, and was 
thus enabled to effect his escape. 

In the flight of the inhabitants, Mr. Abbott re- 
moved his family down the Susquehanna to Sun- 
bury ; but having left his property behind — his 
flocks and herds — for he was an opulent farmer 
for those days — and his fields waving with a rich 
burden of grain nearly ready for the harvest, he 
returned to look after the fruit of his labours. 
This measure was indeed necessary, for the pro- 
duct of his farm was his only dependence for the 
support of his family. But sad was the spectacle 
that met his view on his return. His house and 
his barn had been burnt, his cattle slaughtered or 
driven away, and his fields ravaged. The glean- 
ings only remained to require his attention. These 
he attempted to gather, but in doiui^ so, while en- 
gaged in the field with a neighbour named Isaac 
Williams, a young man, or rather youth of eigh- 



HISTORY OF WYOMING. 241 

teen years, of line promise, they were shot by a 
party of Indians who stole upon them unawares, 
scalped, and left dead upon the spot.* 

The widow, with her helpless charge, being 
now entirely destitute, was compelled to seek her 
way back to Hampton, an eastern town in Con- 
necticut, whence they had emigrated, a distance 
of more than three hundred miles, on foot — pen- 
nyless, heart-broken, and dependent upon charity 
for subsistence. But the journey was effected 
without loss of life or limb ; and the widowed 
Naomi was not more kindly received by the peo- 
ple of Bethlehem, on her return from the land of 
Moab, than were Mrs. Abbott and her infant charge 
by their former friends and neighbours. She re- 
mained at Hampton several years after the trou- 
bles were over, and until her sons were grown up. 
Returning then to the valley, and reclaiming suc- 
cessfully the estate of her husband, she settled 
thereon with her family, married a celebrated wit 
named Stephen Gardiner, and continued to live 
there until her decease. Her son, Stephen Abbott, 
an independent and respectable farmer, still re- 
sides upon the eastern margin of the Susquehanna, 
opposite the site of Fort Forty. 

The Williams family, to which Isaac, the 
young man whose murder in connection with that 
of Mr. Abbott has just been related, was distin- 
guished for its patriotism and bravery. The fa- 

• This Mr. Abbott built the first house in the borough of WilkeBl)arr6. 

21 



242 HISTORY OF WYOMING. 

ther was Thaddeus Williams, and his house stood 
not far from Fort Wyoming^ in the borough of 
Wilkesbarre. He had a son, Thomas, who was a 
sergeant in the regular service, and who, with short 
intermissions, served with distinguished gallantry 
during the greater part- of the war. It was men- 
tioned in the preceding chapter, that in the month 
of March, 1779, while Captain Spalding was in 
command of Fort Wyoming, a sudden irruption 
of tories and Indians took place, by whom the fort 
was surrounded. Happily, however, a few dis- 
charges of the only field-piece in the fortress put 
them to flight. But the severest battle fou2:ht dur- 
ing this irruption was between the Indians and 
Sergeant Thomas Williams, who happened to be 
at home on furlough. His father, who had re- 
moved back to the valley, with others, after the 
general desolation the year before, was at this 
time indisposed, and in bed. The only otlier male 
in the house, besides the sergeant, was a younger 
brother twelve or thirteen years old. The posi- 
tion of Williams's house was such, that the In- 
dians determined to take and destroy it previous 
to their meditated attack upon the garrison. There 
were three loaded muskets in the house, and plenty 
of ammunition. Seeing the Indians approaching 
his castle, the sergeant made his dispositions for 
defence. He barricaded the doors, and getting his 
guns ready, gave his little brother the necessary 
directions for loadincr them as often as he fired. 
He was a man of too much coolness and expe- 



HISTORY OF AVYOMING. 243 

rience to waste his ammunition. Waiting, there- 
fore, until the Indians had approached very near, 
AViUiams took deliberate aim between the logs of 
which the house was constructed, and brought 
their leader dead to the ground. With a hideous 
yell his comrades retreated, dragging away the 
body. They advanced again, and assaulted the 
door, which was too well secured easily to yield. 
Their numbers were now increased, and they in 
turn fired into the house, through the interstices 
between the logs. By one of these shots Mr. 
Williams, the fatlier, was severely wounded in his 
bed ; but the sergeant kept up as brisk a fire as 
his little brother, who acted his part manfully, 
could enable him to do, and a second and third of 
the savages fell. They again retreated, taking 
away their slain, and raising their customary death 
howls. Maddened by their loss, however, they 
again approached, one of them bearing a flaming 
brand, with which they were resoU^ed to fire the 
house. But with deliberate aim the sergeant 
brought the incendiary to the ground, whereupon 
the Indians seized his body and drew off, without 
again returning to the assault. How many more 
than the four enumerated were slain by the brave 
sergeant was not known, because the Indians 
always carry otf their dead. Beyond doubt, the 
lives of the whole family were saved by his intre- 
pidity, and that of his heroic little brother. The 
sergeant is yet living in the valley, an opulent 
and respectable farmer. 



244 HISTORY OF WYOMING. 

Another family upon whom the blow fell with 
great force and severity, was that of Mr. Jonathan 
Weeks. He resided upon a laro-e farm, with his 
sons and sons-in-law, about a mile below the 
borough of Wilkesbarre. He had living with 
him, at the time of the alarm, his three sons, Phil- 
ip, Jonathan, and Bartholomew ; Silas Benedict, a 
son-in-law; Jabel Beers, an uncle ; Josiah Carman, 
a cousin; and a boarder, named Robert Bates. — 
These seven men from a single household all 
seized their arms and hurried to the field. And 
they all fell with their Captain, whose name was 
M'Carrican, a man of letters and teacher of the 
hamlet school. Two days after the battle, a party 
of twenty Indians visited the house of Mr. Weeks, 
and demanded breakfast. Having obtained their 
demand, they next informed Mr. Weeks that he 
must quit the valley forthwith. The old man 
remonstrated. ''AH my sons have fallen," said 
he with emotion ; '' and here am I left with four- 
teen grand-children, all young and helpless." But 
the dusky conquerors were inexorable : never- 
theless, having gorged themselves with blood al- 
ready, and having moreover satisfied tiieir appetites 
for the morning, they did not wantonly apply the 
tomahawk again. The leader of this party was 
an Indian named Anthony Turkey, — a fellow 
who had been well known to the settlers as one 
of the former residents of the valley, when both 
races lived together in friendship. The appear- 
ance of Turkey among the invaders was a source 
of surprise, because of his former friendship. But 



HISTORY OF WYOMING. 245 

he proved as savage as tlie wildest of his race ; and 
notwithstanding his former acquaintance with 
Mr. Weeks, he would not allow the bereft old 
man to remain upon his farm. Still, in driving 
him away, the Indians so far tempered their de- 
cree with mercy as to allow him his oxen and 
wagon, with Avhich he took the sobbing women 
and their little ones back to the county of Orange, 
(New- York,) whence they had emigrated to Wy- 
oming. But the Indian leader, Turkey, afterward 
met the fate he deserved, in this place. Returning 
with the party of tories and Indians who invaded 
the valley a second time in March, 1779, as just 
related in the case of the Williams family, he was 
shot through the thigh in the engagement which 
took place on the flats, and before his people could 
carry him away he was surrounded by the Wy- 
oming boys, who called out to him — " Surrender, 
Turkey, — we won't hurt you." But he refused, 
and resisted like a chafed tiger, until it became 
necessary to make an end of him. After the ene- 
my were gone, the lads took the body of Turkey, 
and set it up-right in a canoe, all painted to their 
hands, and grinning horribly with the muscular 
contortions of death. They then placed a bow 
and arrows in his hand, and sent him adrift, 
amidst the cheers of men and boys. The canoe, 
thus freighted, created some sensation as it passed 
below, and was the cause of several amusing in- 
cidents. In one case a man put off in a canoe to 
take the straggler ; but catching a glimpse of the 
21* 



246 HISTORY OF WYOMIKG. 

ferocious countenance of the Indian, and fancy- 
ing that he was drawing his bow to let fly a 
poisoned arrow, he paddled back to the shore 
with all convenient expedition. 

Yet another case will be briefly related. It is 
that of a Mr, Skinner, whose baptismal name has 
not been preserved. Mrs. Esther Skinner died in 
Torringford, Connecticut, in the year 1831, aged 
one hundred years. She had been one of the 
earliest white residents of Wyoming. In the mas- 
sacre she lost her husband, two sons, and a bro- 
ther, all of whom fell beneath the tomahawk, — 
she herself escaping, with six of her children, as 
it were by a miracle. Her son-in-law was almost 
the only man of twenty who threw themselves 
into the river, and attempted to hide them- 
selves beneath the foliage depending from the 
banks into the water, that escaped. All the others 
were successively massacred while sustaining 
themselves in the water by the branches of 
the trees that dipped into it. He alone was un- 
discovered. The lone mother travelled back to 
Torringford, where she led a useful life to its 
close. She was sometimes cheerful, though a 
cloud of heaviness, brought on by her sorrows, 
was never entirely dissipated. 

In one of these savage incursions, a man named 
Camp — afterward Major Camp, of Alleghany 
County, in the State of New- York — another man 
and a boy, engaged with him in the field, were 
taken prisoners by a party of Indians, and carried 



HISTORY OF WYOMING. 247 

into the wilderness. They were ofiven in charge 
to five Senecas living toward the sources of the Ge- 
nesee river, some ten or fifteen miles south of An- 
gelica. After a long day's march, the party came to 
a halt for the night ; and on lying down to sleep, 
each of the grown prisoners was made fast to one 
of the Indians by a cord tied round the bodies of 
both, in order that the captors might be instantly 
aroused on any attempt being made to escape. 
The same precaution was not taken with the boy. 
Camp had reason to dread the worst at the hands 
of the Indians on their arrival at their village, and 
he determined if possible to make any, even 
'the most desperate effort, to gain his liberty. He 
therefore remained awake, until satisfied that a 
deep sleep had fallen upon all the Indians. Per- 
ceiving that the boy was also awake. Camp whis- 
pered him to take cautiously from the girdle of one 
of the Indians his knife, and as silently as possible 
sever the cords binding himself and the other 
man. This being done, the guns of the Indians 
were removed from their sides by the boy and the 
other man, and secreted behind a tree. Then 
seizing a tomahawk from the side of the Indian 
to whom he had been bound, Camp sprang to his 
feet, and with the rapidity of lightning, by well 
directed blows, planted the instrument so deep 
in the heads of the slumbering savages that they 
awoke not in this world. The disturbance of this 
movement awakened the two remaining Indians, 
one of whom took to his heels, while Camp was 



248 HISTORY OF WYOMING. 

encountering the other. His name was Mohawk. 
Unfortunately Camp missed his blow, and a grap- 
ple ensued. But he proved too athletic for Mo- 
hawk, who relinquished his hold and attempted 
to fly — being severely wounded by a blow from 
Camp's hatchet in the back of his neck. The In- 
dian fled. Camp, however, felt that it was not safe 
to linger in the enemy's country, — not knowing 
how soon the Indian who had escaped might re- 
turn, with a cloud of the red men at his heels. 
Taking possession of the arms of the dead, there- 
fore, he hastened away with his companions. 
The boy only had rendered Camp any assistance 
during the afl'ray, the man being paralysed by his 
fears. The Indian, Mohawk, recovered from his 
wound, and in process of time, by the removal of 
Camp into the neighbourhood of his village, they 
became acquainted. The effect of the wound 
was such as to contract, or perhaps to destroy, 
some of the muscles of Mohawk's neck, by reason 
of which he could never carry his head erect af- 
terward. He was for a time shy of seeing Major 
Camp; but finding that the latter cherished no 
hostility toward him, he subsequently became his 
frequent visiter.* 

Among the residents of Wyoming who long sur- 
vived the scenes that have been faintly sketched, 
was Mrs. Phebe Young, a lady eminent for her 



* Major Camp was a man of respectability, and communicated tlic jiartic 
ulars of this inciiient to Major James Cochran, now of Oswego, hy whom 
tbcy have been furnished tu the author. 



HISTORY OF WYOMING. 249 

piety and worth, who died in August, 1839, at the 
advanced age of ninety years. She retained her 
facuhies of mind and memory until her decease, 
and as lier temperament was cheerful, and her col- 
loquial powers pleasing, her society was courted 
until she was summoned to depart from tlie bright 
spot which for so long a period in her youth she 
had known literally as a vale of tears. Mrs. Young 
was a native of the ancient Dutch town of ^Eso- 
pus, in the state of New- York, whence she emi- 
grated to Wyoming at the age of twenty, in the 
year 1769. There were in Wyoming, at that pe- 
riod, only five white females, including lierself. 
The Indians were then in the quiet possession of 
the circumjacent country, excepting the sections 
that had been entered upon by the whites; and the 
relations of Mrs. Young and her friends with them, 
were of the most friendly character. Having taken 
up her residence there thus early, Mrs. Young was 
of course a participator in all the hardships and 
deprivations incident to the commencement of a 
settlement in the woods at a distance so remote 
from the abodes of civilization. She was also a 
spectator of, and consequently a sufferer in, the bit- 
ter civil feuds which for so many years distracted 
the valley. On the day of the battle and massacre, 
while the men were preparing themselves for the 
contest, and making such hasty dispositions as 
they could for the security of their families, she, 
and her children, were furnished by her husband 
with a canoe, and advised to hasten from the val- 



250 HISTORY OF WYOMING. 

ley down the Susquehanna at once ; but she was 
unwilling to depart until she could learn the re- 
sult of the impending contest. She therefore took 
refuge, with her children, in a small house near 
the river, at the distance of several miles below 
the battle ground. A portion of the family of Co- 
lonel Dennison were with her. As the evening 
of the fatal day approached, she lulled her chil- 
dren to sleep, and with her friends watched, with 
a solicitude that cannot be described, until mid- 
night. Then was heard the approaching tramp of 
horses at full speed. They hastened to the door to 
receive them, and the tidings were, "all is lost, 
and the Indians are sweeping down the valley !" 
Gathering her children from the tioor upon which 
they were dreaming in happy unconsciousness of 
what had passed, she placed them in a canoe, and 
launched forth upon the river, to be wafted by its 
current whither it might. The moon shone sweet- 
ly upon the water, and in passing her own liouse, 
all was quiet, and the cow stood ruminating by 
the door. She kept in her canoe, borne rapidly 
along by the stream, until she arrived in Lancas- 
ter county, where resided the friends of her hus- 
band, among whom she remained until after the 
campaign of General Sullivan against the Indian 
country in 1779. Her return was to a valley of 
desolation — every person she met was a mourner 
— the relics of " a people scattered and peeled." 
Mrs. Young never afterward left Wyoming; nor 
for many years previous to her decease had she 



HISTORY OF WYOMING. 251 

moved beyond the limits of the borough of Wilkes- 
barre, except on the interesting occasion, three 
or four years ago, when the common grave of those 
who fell in the massacre was opened "for the pur- 
pose of founding a monument to their memory. 
All the survivors of the times of Indian troubles 
were assembled, and Mrs. Young was sent for as 
one of them. The spectators of what took place 
on that occasion can never forget it. The bones 
of slaughtered brothers and fathers, marked with 
the tomahawk and the scalping-knife and the ri- 
fle, were opened to view; and as the vast assembly 
marched around the grave, the old, who had shared 
in the sorrows of the first settlers of the valley, 
wept at the recollection of what they had known, 
and the young wept in sympathy because they 
had heard from their fathers' lips the unhappy story 
of their native valley. Mrs. Young could share 
largely in the feelings of that occasion, for many 
of those whose bones were there collected she had 
personally known as neighbours; but she did not 
seek to be present. It was only the urgent solici- 
tations of a respected neighbour, who was liimself 
a survivor of the 'Indian troubles,' and the rem- 
nant of a family cut off in the massacre, that pre- 
vailed and induced her to go. She never left the 
town again."* For sixty years Mrs. Young never 
looked upon the world beyond the narrow bar- 
riers of Wyoming. 



•Tribute to the memory of Mrs. Young, by the Rev. Mr. May, her pastor, 
published in the London Episcopal Recorder. 



252 HISTORY OF WYOMING. 

The S locum family of Wyoming were distin- 
guished for their sufferings during the war of the 
revolution, and have been recently brought more 
conspicuously before the public in connection 
with the life of a long lost but recently discovered 
sister. The story of the family opens with trage- 
dy, and ends in romance without fiction. 

Mr. Slocum, the father of the subject of the 
present narrative, was a non-combatant, — being 
a member of the society of Friends. Feeling 
himself therefore safe from the hostility even of 
the savages, he did not join the survivors of the 
massacre in their flight, but remained quietly 
upon his farm, — his house standing in close 
proximity to the village of Wilkesbarre. But the 
beneficent principles of his faith had little weight 
with the Indians, notwithstanding the aflection 
with which their race had been treated by the 
founder of (Quakerism in Pennsylvania, — the il- 
lustrious Pcnn, — and long had the family cause 
to mourn their imprudence in not retreating from 
the doomed valley with their neighbours. 

It was in the autumn of the same year of the 
invasion by Butler and Gi-en-gwah-toh, at mid- 
day, when the men were labouring in a distant 
field, that the house of Mr. Slocum was suddenly 
surrounded by a party of Delawarcs, prowling 
about the valley, in more earnest search, as it 
seemed, of plunder than of scalps or prisoners. — 
The inmates of the house, at the moment of the 
surprise, were Mrs. Slocum and four young chil- 



HISTORY OF WYOMING. 253 

dren, the eldest of whom was a son aged thirteen, 
the second a daughter, aged nine, the third, Fran- 
ces Slocum, aged five, and a httle son aged two 
years and a half. Near by the house, engaged in 
grinding a knife, was a young man named Kings- 
ley, assisted in the operation by a lad. The first 
hostile act of the Indians was to shoot down 
Kingsley, and take his scalp with the knife he 
had been sharpening. 

The girl nine years old appears to have had 
the most presence of mind, for while the mother 
ran into the edge of a copse of wood near by. and 
Frances attempted to secrete herself behind a 
stair-case, the former at the moment seized her 
little brother, the youngest above mentioned, and 
ran off in the direction of the fort. True, she 
could not make rapid progress, for she clung to 
the child, and not even the pursuit of the savages 
could induce her to drop her charge. The In- 
dians did not pursue her far, and laughed hearti- 
ly at the panic of the little girl, while they could 
not but admire her resolution. Allowing her to 
make her escape, they returned to the house, and 
after helping themselves to such articles as they 
chose, prepared to depart. 

The mother seems to have been unobserved by 
them, although, with a yearning bosom, she had 
so disposed of herself that while she was screened 
from observation she could notice all that occur- 
red. But judge of her feelings at the moment they 
were about to depart, as she saw little Frances 
22 



254 



HISTORY OF WYOMING. 



taken from her hiding phice, and preparations 
made to carry her away into captivity, with her 
brother, already mentioned as being thirteen years 
old, (who, by the way, had been restrained from 
attempted flight by lameness in one of his feet,) 
and also the lad who a few moments before was 
assisting Kingsley at the grindstone. The sight 
was too much for maternal tenderness to endure. 
Rushing from her place of concealment, therefore, 
she threw herself upon her knees at the feet of 
her captors, and with the most earnest entreaties 
pleaded for their restoration. But their bosoms 
were made of sterner stuff than to yield even to 
the most eloquent and affectionate of a mother's 
entreaties, and with characteristic stoicism they 
began to remove. As a last resort the mother ap- 
pealed to their selfishness, and pointing to the 
maimed foot of her crippled son, urged as a reason 
why at least they should relinquish him, the de- 
lays and embarrassments he would occasion them 
in their journey. Being unable to walk, they 
would of course be compelled to carry him the 
whole distance, or leave him by the way, or take 
his life. Although insensible to the feelings of 
humanity, these considerations had the desired 
effect. The lad was left behind, while deaf alike 
to the cries of the mother, and the shrieks of the 
child, Frances was slung over the shoulder of a 
stalwart Indian with as much indifference as 
though she was a slaughtered fawn. 

The long, lingering look which the mother 



HISTORY OF WYOMING. 256 

gave to her child, as her captors disappeared in 
the forest, was the last glimpse of her sweet fea- 
tures that she ever had. But the vision was for 
many a long year ever present to her fancy. As 
the Indian threw her child over his shoulder, her 
hair fell over her face, and the mother could never 
forget how the tears streamed down her cheeks, 
when she brushed it away as if to catch a last sad 
look of the mother, from whom, her little arms 
outstretched, she implored assistance in vain. — 
Nor was this the last visit of the savages to the 
domicil of Mr. Slocum. About a month thereaf- 
ter, another horde of the barbarians rushed down 
from the mountains, and murdered the aged grand- 
father of the little captive, and wounded the lad, 
already lame, by discharging a ball which lodged 
in his leof, and which he carried with him to his 
grave more than half a century afterward. 

These events cast a shadow over the remaining 
years of Mrs. Slocum. She lived to see many 
bright and sunny days in that beautiful valley — 
bright and sunny, alas, to her no longer. She 
mourned for the lost one, of whom no tidings, at 
least during her pilgrimage, could be obtained. — 
After her sons grew up, the youngest of whom, by 
the way, was born but a few months subsequent 
to the events already narrated, obedient to the 
charge of their mother, the most unwearied elibrts 
were made to ascertain what had been the fiite of 
the lost sister. The forests between the Susque- 
hanna and the great lakes, and even the more 



256 HISTORY OF WYOMING. 

distant wilds of Canada, were traversed by the 
brothers in vain, nor could any information re- 
specting her be derived from the Indians.* In 
process of time these efforts were relinquished as 
hopeless. The lost one might have fallen beneath 
the tomahawk, or might have proved too tender a 
flower for transplantation into the wilderness. — 
Conjecture was baffled, and the mother, with a sad 
heart, sank into the grave, as also did the father, 
believing with the Hebrew patriarch that "the 
child was not." 

The years of a generation passed, and the me- 
mory of little Frances was forgotten, save by two 
brothers and a sister, who, though advanced in 
the vale of life, could not forget the family tradi- 
tion of the lost one. Indeed it had been the dy- 
ing charge of their mother that they must never 
relinquish their exertions to discover Frances. A 
change now comes over the spirit of the story. It 
happened that in the course of the year 1835, 
Colonel Ewing, a gentleman connected with the 
Indian trade, and also with the public service 
of the country, in traversing a remote section of 
Indiana, was overtaken by the night, while at a 
distance from the abodes of civilized man. When 

* In the Narrative of Colonel Thomas Proctor, a Commissioner deputed 
by Gen. Knox, then Secretary of War, upon a mission to the Norihwestern 
Indians, in 1791, under date of March 28th, is this entry: — "I was joined by 
Mr. George Siocum, who followed us from Wyoming, to place himself under 
our prot3ction and assistance, until he should reach the Cornplanter's settle- 
ment, on the head waters of the Alleghany, to the redeeming of his sister 
from an uiipleising captivity of twelve years, to wliicli end he begged our 
immediate interposition."— ^ide Indian State Papers. 



HISTORY OF WYOMING. 257 

it became too dark for him to pursue his way, he 
sought an Indian habitation, and was so fortunate 
as to find shelter and a welcome in one of the 
better sort. The proprietor of the lodtre was in- 
deed opulent for an Indian, — possessing horses 
and skins, and other comforts in abundance. He 
was struck in the course of the evening by the 
appearance of the venerable mistress of the lodge, 
whose complexion was lighter than that of her 
family, and as glimpses were occasionally dis- 
closed of her skin beneath her blanket-robe, the 
Colonel was impressed with the opinion that she 
was a white woman. Colonel Ewing could con- 
verse in the Miami language, to which nation his 
host belonged, and after partaking of the best of 
their cheer, he drew the aged squaw into a con- 
versation, which soon confirmed his suspicions 
that she was only an Indian by adoption. Her 
narrative was substantially as follows : — 

" My father's name was Slocum. He resided on 
the banks of the Susquehanna, but the name of 
the village I do not recollect. Sixty winters and 
summers have gone since I was taken a captive 
by a party of Delawares, while I was playing be- 
fore my father's house. I was too young to feel 
for any length of time the misery and anxiety 
which my parents must have experienced. The 
kindness and affection with which I was treated 
by my Indian captors, soon efi'aced my childish 
uneasiness, and in a short time I became one of 
them. The first night of my captivity was passed 
22* 



258 HISTORY OP WYOMING. 

in a cave near the summit of a mountain, but a 
little distance from my father's. That night was 
the unhappiest of my life, and the impressions 
which it made were the means of indelibly stamp- 
ing on my memory my father's name and resi- 
dence. For years we led a roving life. I became 
accustomed to, and fond of their manner of living. 
They taught me the use of the bow and arrow, 
and the beasts of the forest supplied me with food. 
I married a chief of our tribe, whom I had long 
loved for his bravery and humanity, and kindly 
did he treat me. 1 dreaded the sight of a white 
man, for I was taught to believe him the impla- 
cable enemy of the Indian. I thought he was 
determined to separate me from my husband and 
our tribe. After I had been a number of years 
with my husband, he died. A part of my people 
then joined the Miamis, and I was among them. 
I married a Miami, who was called by the pale 
faces the deaf man. I lived with him a good 
many winters, until he died. I had by him two 
sons and two daughters. 1 am now old, and have 
nothing to fear from the white man. My husband 
and all my children but these two daughters, my 
brothers and sisters, have all gone to the Great 
Spirit, and 1 shall go in a few moons more. Until 
this moment I have never revealed my name, or 
told the mystery that hung over the fate of Fran- 
ces Slocum." 

Such was the substance of the revelation to 
Colonel Ewing. Still, the family at Wyoming 



HISTORY OF WYOMING. 259 

were ignorant of the discovery, nor did Colonel 
Ewing know any thing of them. And it was 
only by reason of a peculiarly providential cir- 
cumstance that the tidin2:s ever reached their ears. 
On Colonel E wing's return to his own home, he 
related the adventure to his mother, who, with 
the just feelino^s of a woman, uri^ed him to take 
some measure to make the discovery known, and 
at her solicitation he was induced to write a nar- 
rative of the case, which he addressed to the Post- 
master at Lancaster, with 'a request that it might 
be published in some Pennsylvania newspaper. 
But the latter functionary, having no knowledge 
of the writer, and supposing that it might be a 
hoax, paid no attention to it, and the letter was 
suffered to remain among the worthless accumu- 
lations of the office for the space of two years. 
It chanced then, that the post-master's wife, in 
rummaging over the old papers, while putting 
the office in order one day, glanced her eyes upon 
this communication. The story excited her in- 
terest, and with the true feeHngs of a woman, 
she resolved upon giving the document publicity. 
With this view she sent it to the neighbouring 
editor. And here, again, another providential 
circumstance intervened. It happened that a 
Temperance Committee had engaged a portion 
of the columns of the paper to which the letter of 
Colonel Ewing was sent, for the publication of 
an important document connected with that cause, 
and a laro^e extra number of papers had been or- 



260 HISTORY OF WYOMING. 

dered for ofeneral distribution. The letter was 
sent forth with the temperance document, and it 
yet again happened that a copy of this paper was 
addressed to a clergyman who had a brother re- 
siding in ^Yyoming. Having, from that brother, 
heard the story of the captivity of Francis Slo- 
cum, he had no sooner read the letter of Colonel 
Ewing, than he enclosed it to him, and by him 
it was placed in the hands of Joseph Slocum,Esq., 
the surviving brother. 

Any attempt to describe the sensations produced 
by this most welcome, most strange, and most un- 
expected intelligence, would necessarily be a fail- 
ure. This Mr. Joseph S locum was the child, two 
years and a half old, that had been rescued by 
his intrepid sister, nine years old. That sister 
also survived, as did the younger brother, living 
in Ohio. Arrangements were immediately made 
by the former two, to meet the latter in Ohio, and 
proceed thence to the Miami country, and reclaim 
the long lost and newfound sister. "I shall 
know her if she be my sister," said the elder sis- 
ter now going in pursuit, " although she may be 
painted and jewelled off, and dressed in her In- 
dian blanket, for you, brother, hammered off her 
finger nail one day in th blacksmith's shop, when 
she was four years ol I." In due season they 
reached the designated place, and found their sis- 
ter. But, alas ! how changed ! Instead of the 
fair-haired and laughing girl, the picture yet liv- 
ing in their imaginations, they found her an aged 



HISTORY OF WYOMING. 261 

and thorou2:hbrecl squaw in every thing but com- 
plexion. But there could be no mistake as to 
her identity. The elder sister soon discovered 
the finger-mark. '' How came the nail of that 
finger gone?" she inquired. "My older brother 
pounded it ofFwhen I was a little girl, in the shop," 
she replied. This circumstance was evidence 
enough, but other reminiscences were awakened, 
and the recognition was complete. But how dif- 
ferent were the emotions of the parties! The 
brothers paced the lodge in agitation. The civil- 
ized sister was in tears. The other, obedient to 
the affected stoicism of her adopted race, was as 
cold, unmoved, and passionless as marble. 

It was in vain that they besought their sister 
to return with them to her native valley, bringing 
her children with her if she chose. Every offer 
and importunity was declined. She said she was 
well enough off, and happy. She had, moreover, 
promised her husband on his death-bed never to 
leave the Indians. Her two daughters had both 
been married, but one of them was a widow. The 
husband of the other is a half-breed, named Brouil- 
lette, who is said to be one of the noblest looking 
men of his race. They all have an abundance of 
Indian wealth, and her daughters mount their 
steeds, and manage them as well as in the days of 
chivalry did the rather masculine spouse of Count 
Robert of Paris. They live at a place called The 
Deaf Man's Village, nine miles from Peru, in In- 
diana. But notwithstanding the comparative 



262 HISTORY OF WYOMING. 

comfort in which they live, the utter ignorance 
of their sister wa^, a subject of painful contem- 
plation to the Slocums. She had entirely forgot- 
ten her native language, and was completely a 
pagan — having no knowledge even of the white 
man's Sabbath. 

Mr. Joseph Slocum has since made a second 
visit to his sister, accompanied by his two daugh- 
ters. Frances is said to have been deliahted with 
the beauty and accomplishments of her white 
nieces, but resolutely refuses to return to the 
abodes of civilized man. She resides with her 
daughters in a comfortable log building, but in all 
her habits and manners, her ideas and thoughts, 
she is as thoroughly Indian as though not a drop 
of white blood flowed in her veins. She is rep- 
resented as having manifested, for an Indian, an 
unwonted degree of pleasure at the return of her 
brother: but both mother and daughters spurned 
every persuasive to win them back from the coun- 
try and manners of their people. Indeed as all 
their ideas of happiness are associated with their 
present mode of life, a change would be produc- 
tive of little good, so far as temporal aflliirs are 
concerned, while, unless they could be won from 
Paganisim to Christianity, their lives would drag 
along in irksome restraint, if not in pining sorrow. 



CH.iPTER YIII. 

Continuation of tho History, — The State Government succeeds thatofth« 
Proprietaries,— Conduct of the State to the heirs of Penn, — The Siate 
claims the title to the Wyoming lands,— Appeals to Congress,— A Com- 
mission appointed,— Decision in favour of Pennsylvania, — Dissatisfac- 
tion of the people,— State troops sent to Wyoming,— Arrogant and dis- 
graceful conduct of magistrates and soldiers, — Appeal of the people f) 
Congress, — Terrible Inundation, — Sufferings of the people,— Rapacity 
of the soldiers, — Sympathy of the public excited in their behalf, — Ban- 
ditti,— Renewal of the Civil War, — The State troops besieged, — Siege 
raised, — Commissioners again sent to Wyoming, — Ineffectual negotia- 
tions,— Movement of troops against the valley, — Colonel Armstrong ap- 
pointed to the command,— Repulse of Major Moore, —The people sie/.ed, 
disarmed, and imprisoned by treachery, — Armstrong plunders the fields, — 
Resistance of the people,— His troops defeated, — The people re-take their 
arms, — Armstrong returns to Philadelphia, — Another expedition, — Sym- 
pathy for the people, — Interposition of the Council of Censors, — Gloomy 
Bituationof affairs in the valley, — Armstrong makes a final retreat,— 
Better state of feeling, — Mediation of Colonel Pickering,— Compromise 
Law, — opposed by John Franklin and some of the people,— Affray,— 
Franklin's arrest and imprisonment for treason, — Insurrection, - Flight 
of Colonel Pickering, — His return and extraordinary captivity, — Release 
— Final adjustment of the controversy,- Conclusion. 

Unfortunately for Wyoming, its troubles ceas- 
ed not with the war of the Revokition. That 
contest was in foot ended by he fall of Yorktown, 
and the surrender of CornwaUis, in October, 1781, 
though not by official acknowledgement until the 
treaty of 1783. There ^ as, however, a conven- 
tional cessation of active hostilities ; and with the 



264 HISTORY OF WYOMING. 

disappearance of danger from the Indians on the 
frontier. Connecticut again poured her hundreds 
of emigrants into the beautiful vale which nature 
had destined as the paradise of the Susquehanna. 
But in regard to the proprietorship of the lands, 
although the government of Pennsylvania had 
changed hands, no change had been wrought in 
favour of the Connecticut claimants; and the 
swarms of Yankees now alighting in the valley 
were looked upon with an evil eye. The govern- 
ment of the Proprietaries had been abolished at 
the commencement of the revolution. The prin- 
cipal heirs to the grant of William Penn already- 
resided in England, and the others, John and 
Richard Penn, had also retired thither. Both 
Richard and John had administered the colonial 
government. The administration of Richard, who 
was superseded by John in 1773, had been very 
popular, especially with the merchants. John 
Penn was at the head of the Proprietaries' gov- 
ernment at the breaking out of the rebellion, and 
his feelings and sympathies were for a season sup- 
posed to be in unison with those of the colonists, 
until after the adoption of the address to the 
crown, by the Congress of 1775, v/hen Governor 
Penn attempted to persuade the colonial legislature 
to adopt a separate address, of a more conciliatory 
character. But the Assembly was not disposed to 
separate Pennsylvania from the united action of 
the CO nies. The differences between the Gov- 
ernor and his refractory legislature increased, until 



HISTORY OF WYOMING. 265 

the latter, with the people of Pennsylvania, thor- 
oughly espoused the cause of the revolution, and 
the government of the Proprietaries expired on 
the 2Gth of September, 1776. About the year 
1778, the legislature of the State enacted a law 
stripping the heirs of William Penn of all the 
vacant lands within its territory, leaving them 
only a few tracts of unsettled land, called Manors, 
which had been actually located and surveyed. 
As an acknowledgement of the merits and claims 
of the family of Penn, however, the sum of one 
hundred and thirty thousand pounds sterling was 
voted them as an indemnification, in addition to 
the Manors. But there was at the same time due 
those heirs about five hundred thousand pounds, 
for lands they had sold the inhabitants, and for 
quit-rents.* It has been held that the State might 
have considered the proprietary claims as a royal- 
ty, to which an independent government might 
lawfully succeed.f Still no such claim was pre- 
ferred ; and the pretext for what has been consid- 
ered by some an act of violence against the just 
rights of those heirs, was, that so large a property 
in the hands of a few individuals endangered the 
liberties of the people.J 

Having thus made itself the successor to the 
Proprietaries, the State of Pennsylvania was not 
slow in the interposition of its claim to the torri- 

* Pickering's Letter to his son. The amount of Lands thus seized was 
about six millions of acres, according to Mr. Pickering. 
t Encyclopaedia Americana. Art. Pennsylvania. 
I Pickering's Letter. 

23 



266 



HISTORY OF WYOMING. 



tory of Wyoming, and the entire domain of the 
Susquehanna and Delaware companies. Tiie ar- 
ticles of confederation having made provision for 
the adjustment of difficulties arising between states, 
and Connecticut insisting upon the jurisdiction it 
had so long exercised over the Wyoming settle- 
ments, Pennsylvania now applied to Congress for 
the appointment of a commission to hear the par- 
ties, and determine the question. Commissioners 
were accordingly appointed, who met at Trenton, 
in the State of New- Jersey, late in the Autumn of 
1782.* After a session of five weeks, the com- 
missioners, on the 30th of December, came to the 
unanimous decision that Connecticut had no right 
to the land in controversy, and that the jurisdic- 
tion and preemption of all the lands within her 
chartered limits belonged to Pennsylvania. 

The people of Wyoming viewed the proceed- 
ings of the commission of Congress with com- 
parative indifference — considering, or affecting 
to consider, that the question at issue before it 
was one oi jurisdiction only. Their allegiance 
might as well be rendered to Pennsylvania as to 
Connecticut, so that they were left in the undis- 



* The State of Connecticut appointed Colonel Dj'cr, Doctor Johnson, and 
Jesse Root, as agents to attend the Board of Commissioners on her behalf; and 
Messrs. Bradford, Reed, Wilson, and Sergeant, were appointed on the part 
of Pennsylvania. The Colonel Dyerhere named, had been concerned in the Sus- 
quehanno Company from the first, and had been its agent in London. He was 
alawyer in Windham, and was the same gentleman whohas been immortalized 
in the celebrated tradition of the invasion of Windham by the frogs. One 
of the Elderkins, also named in the same tradition, was for a time an early 
resident of Wyoming. 



HISTORY OF WYOMING. 267 

turbed enjoyment of their farms ; and even the 
explicit phraseology of the decree of the commis- 
sion, declaring that Connecticut had " no right 
to the land in controversy," gave them little con- 
cern, supposing, as they subsequently contended, 
that it meant no more than the fact that the Stale 
of Connecticut had conveyed all her right to the 
soil^ to the Susquehanna Company, from which 
latter their title was derived. They therefore, 
under this mental construction, acquiesced at once 
in the decision, and by a formal memorial to the 
General Assembly, signified their willingness to 
conform to the laws and obey the constituted 
authorities of Pennsylvania.* 

Far different, however, was the construction of 
that decree by the Pennsylvanians. They con- 
tended not only for the jurisdiction, but the soil, 
and the General Assembly took immediate meas- 
ures preparatory to a sweeping ejectment of the 
settlers. The decree from Trenton having been 
received, the General Assembly passed a resolu- 
tion, on the 20th of February, declaring the peo- 
ple then settled in Wyoming, on yielding obedi- 
ence to the laws, to be entitled to protection, and 
the benefits of civil government, in common with 
other citizens of the State. On the 25th of the 
same month, three Commissioners were appointed, 
who were to act as magistrates, in Wyoming, in- 
quire into the state of the country, and recommend 

* Chapman. 



268 HISTORY OF WYOMING. 

proper measures for adoption toward the settlers,* 
These Commissioners were directed to repair to 
Wyoming in April ; meantime, in the month of 
March, under the transparent pretext of affording 
protection to the settlement, the Council ordered 
two companies of rangers to be raised and sta- 
tioned there, under the command of Captains 
Thomas Robinson and Philip Shrawder. These 
companies arrived on the 21st and 24th of March, 
and taking possession of Fort Wyoming, changed 
its name to Fort Dickinson, in honour of the Pres- 
ident of the Council of State. f 

It was very natural that this military demon- 
stration, the object of which, the war being over, 
could not be misconceived, would create great 
uneasiness ; which feeling, when the Commis- 
sioners came to report, was at once aroused to 
the verge of insurrection. They reported that a 
reasonable compensation in land should be made 
to the families of those who had fallen in arms 
against the common enemy, and to such other 
settlers holding under proper Connecticut titles, 
as were actual residents of Wyoming at the date 
of the Trenton decree; conditioned that they 
should relinquish all claim to the soil then in their 
possession, and make a full and entire surrender 
of their tenures. In other words, they were to 
relinquish all their present lands and improve- 

* These Commissioners were William Montgomery, Moses M'Lean, and 
John Montgomery. 

t Under the first State Constitution of Pennsylvania, there was no Governor 
or Senate. 



HISTORY OF WYOMING. 269 

ments, purchased by unheard-of sufferings, and 
consecrated by the blood of their kindred ; in 
lieu of which they were to receive an indefinite 
compensation, at the option of their enemies, in 
the wild lands of some region unknown. Condi- 
tions like these they were in no temper to brook, 
more especially as the arrogant conduct of the 
troops stationed there had already exasperated 
them almost to a point beyond which endurance 
ceases to be a virtue. The summer of that year, 
(1782,) was therefore passed in a state of high 
excitement, — the troops deporting themselves in 
a spirit of tyrannical domination, and commit- 
ting many outrages, disgraceful to the character 
of civilized men. 

In the month of September, Captain Robinson's 
company was relieved by another detachment of 
State troops, under Captain Christie, the command 
of the station at the same time being conferred 
upon a militia Major named James Moore. Two 
special Justices of the Peace were likewise ap- 
pointed for the district, the names of whom were 
Patterson and West, with directions to repair to 
the disputed territory, with Major Moore, and by 
the aid and protection of the military, form a tri- 
bunal for the adjudication of all questions arising 
under the civil law. The immediate object of 
constituting this tribunal, the authority of which 
was to be sustained by the bayonet, very soon be- 
came apparent. It was none other than to dispos- 
sess the Connecticut settlers of their plantations: 
23* 



270 HISTORY OF WYOMING. 

per fas aut nefas. and award them to such claim- 
ants as might present themselves under the Penn- 
sylvania title. They began their judicial labours 
in the most arbitrary and oppressive manner, and 
the military executed their decrees in a spirit of 
cruelty and vindictiveness which would have re- 
flected discredit upon the hordes led into that 
afflicted region four years before by Gi-en-gwah- 
toh himself. The people were not only subjec- 
ted to insult, but their crops were destroyed in 
the fields, their cattle were seized and driven 
away, and in some instances their houses were 
destroyed by fire, and the females rendered the 
victims of armed licentiousness.* The real ob- 
ject of this rigorous treatment was not only to 
strip the people of their possessions, but by weary- 
ing them of their "promised land," drive them 
from the valley. f 

Considering the indomitable and fiery spirit 
characterizing the Connecticut emigrants during 
the severe trials they had encountered in preceding 
years, it is a subject of surprise that these oppres- 
sive acts were submitted to, even for a single 
week ; and it can only be accounted»for upon the 
supposition, that, wearied by the harassing con- 
tentions of years, they were now earnestly seek- 
ing repose. Instead, therefore, of an immediate 
appeal to arms, they now sought redress by an 
appeal to the Legislature of Pennsylvania for pro- 

* Chapman. t Pickering's Letter. 



HISTORY OF WYOMING. 271 

tection. Their first memorial, which ought to 
have been acted upon in December, seeming to be 
unheeded, the people next spread their case be- 
fore Congress, and prayed for the intervention of 
that body, by the appointment of a commission, 
under the ninth Article of the Confederation, to 
hear and determine the question as to the right of 
soil. The memorial was favourably received, and 
it was ordered on the 23d of January, 17S4, that 
Congress, or a committee of the States, should 
hear the parties on the fourth Monday of the then 
ensuing month of June. But greatly to the dis- 
appointment of the people, neither Congress nor 
a committee of the states was in session at the 
time designated, " and the controversy came to no 
determination." 

Meantime, however, the inhabitants had been 
doomed to suffer from a calamity of a different 
character, inflicted by an arm more powerful than 
that of man. The winter of 1783-84 was one of 
uncommon severity. The weather was so in- 
tensely cold that the ice upon the surface of the 
river formed to an unusual thickness, and the 
snow fell to an extraordinary depth. Protected 
from the gradual action of the sun by the dense 
forests overspreading almost the entire country, 
the snow lay upon the mountains, and was piled 
up in the ravines, in immense masses, when sud- 
denly a warm rain set in on the 13th of March, 
which continued falling until the 15th. A rapid 
dissolution of the snow caused a corresponding 



272 HISTORY OF WYOMING. 

swelling of the streams tributary to the Susque- 
hanna, and a premature breaking up of the ice 
was the consequence. The first breaking was at 
the successive rapids, from each of which the ice 
was borne along in masses over the still sections 
of the river yet sleeping beneath its frozen chains, 
until arrested by trees, or some other intervening 
obstacles, against which it lodged. By this pro- 
cess several dams were formed in the valley, espe- 
cially at the lower end, where it is almost cut off 
by the approximating points of the mountains 
upon either side. These dams caused the waters 
to flow back and accumulate, until the entire val- 
ley was overflowed, and the inhabitants compelled 
to flee to the little hills rising in the valley,* and 
to the mountains, for their lives, leaving their cattle 
and flocks, their provisions, and the greater part of 
their household goods to the mercy of the flood. 
Some of them had more than once been compelled 
to look back upon the valley from the same moun- 
tains, when blazing like a sea of fire. Equally 
appalling, and if possible more dreary, was the 
spectacle, now that the valley resembled a hyper- 

* One of tliese elevations which impart an agreeable variety to tJie aspect 
of the valley, juts out shari)ly almo>t into the river, not far above the inter* 
section of Mill Creek. It was the site of one of the Yankee defences against 
Ogflen, heretofore mentioned. From its crest, tlio landscape is as beantiful 
as fancy can paint. Upon the summit of tiiis hill sleep the remains of the Rev. 
Mr. Johnstone, the first clergyman of Wyoming. He was a good scholar and a 
man of talents — greatly beloved by the flock over which he watched for 
many years. He was, however, a n eccentric man, entertaining some peculiar 
views in theology. He believed in the second coming and personal reign of 
Christ upon earth ; and insisted upon being buried here, facing the ea.st, so 
that he could see the glorious pageant of the Messiah iu his second descent. 



HISTORY OF WYOMING. 273 

borean lake, the ice of which had been broken 
into floating masses by a tempest. The waters 
continued to accumulate for many hours, up- 
raising houses, barns, and fences upon their bo- 
som, until at length a large dam in the mountain- 
gorge above the valley gave way, causing at once 
a mighty increase, and a tremendous rush of the 
flood, which, as it hurried impetuously down, 
swept every thing before it. The fetters of the 
more tranquil sections of the river gave way at 
the same time, the ice heaving up in ponderous 
masses, and making the valley to echo with their 
thunder as they broke. It was a scene of terrific 
grandeur, to behold the maddened floods rolling 
onward in their irresistible strength, and bearing 
upon their bosom the wrecks of houses and barns, 
with stacks of hay, and huge trunks of trees, and 
broken fragments of timber, with piles of ice and 
drowned cattle, all mingled in destructive confu- 
sion together, and hurrying forward as though 
anxious to escape such a region of desolation for 
the more tranquil repose of the ocean. But it was 
a heart-rending spectacle to the poor settlers, thus 
again to look upon the entire destruction of their 
earthly goods, with the certainty that when the 
flood should abate, they could only return to wan- 
der in destitution amidst the " wreck of matter," 
while even the sunny face of hope had become 
almost as dark as despair. As the waters subsided, 
huge piles of ice were deposited upon the plain of 
Wilkesbarre, so thick that the fervid heat of al- 



274 



HISTORY OF WYOMING. 



most the whole summer was required for its dis- 
solution.* 

Disheartened, but not broken, the people re- 
turned as soon as the floods would permit, and 
with the opening spring commenced once more 
the labour of repairing their dilapidated fortunes, — 
with which the never-ending still-beginning la- 
bours of the fabled Sisyphus were but as child's 
play in comparison, and, judging from the past, 
scarcely less promising for the future. The de- 
struction of their cattle and provisions had been 
so general, that gloomy apprehensions of a famine 
pressed upon their minds, and there must have 
been great suffering but for the assistance re- 
ceived from abroad. And what little of food had 
been preserved, or was furnished to thftm, was 
snatched almost from their mouths by the sol- 
diers, sent thither to guard and torment them, 
and who now became more ungovernable and 
rapacious than before. Such an accumulation of 
calamities was well calculated to awaken the sym- 
pathies of the people wherever the story was re- 
hearsed, and those sympathies, generally, were 
not appealed to in vain. Mr. Dickinson, the Pre- 
sident of the Council of State, spontaneously in- 
vited the attention of that body to the subject, 
and recommended the adoption of measures for 
the immediate relief of the sufferers ; but the Ge- 
neral Assembly looked coldly upon a people whose 

♦ Chapman. 



HISTORY OF WYOMING. 275 

coming into the state had been without leave, and 
whose presence had caused them so much trouble. 
The efforts of the President were therefore not se- 
conded by those holding the keys of the treasury. 
^ The sufferers, however, sustained by the all- 
conquering spirit of their race, recommenced their 
labours with their wonted energy ; and but for 
the conduct of the soldiery, the valley might again 
have become the home of peace, smilinj^ once 
more in beauty. But the magistrates sent thither 
for that purpose revived their oppressive mea- 
sures, and countenanced the outrages of the sol- 
diers, until the people, chafed beyond longer en- 
durance, determined upon forcible resistance to 
their mandates. Enraged at this resolution, the 
magistrates proceeded against the settlers as 
though they were insurgents. On the r2th of 
May the soldiers of the garrison were sent to dis- 
arm the people, and in the progress of the work 
" one hundred and fifty families were turned out of 
their newly constructed dwellings, many of which 
were burnt, and all ages and sexes reduced once 
more to a state of destitution. After being plun- 
dered of their little remaining property, they were 
driven from the valley, and compelled to proceed 
on foot through the wilderness by the way of the 
Lackawaxen river to the Delaware — a distance 
of eighty miles. During this journey the un- 
happy fugitives suffered all the miseries which 
human nature appears capable of enduring. Old 
men, whose sons had been slain in battle, widows. 



276 HISTORY OP WYOMING. 

with their infant children, and children without 
parents to protect them, were here companions 
in exile and sorrow, and wandering in a wilder- 
ness where famine and ravenous beasts daily re- 
duced the number of the sufferers. One shock- 
ing instance of suffering is related by a survivor 
of this scene of death: it is the case of a mother, 
whose infant having died, she was driven to the 
dreadful alternative of roasting the body by piece- 
meal for the daily subsistence of her remaining 
children !"* 

It must not be supposed that atrocities like these 
would be sanctioned by the government of any 
civilized community. The General Assembly, in 
refusing a vote of supplies for the sufferers by the 
flood, were believed to have been acting under 
the influence of the Pennsylvania claimants to the 
lands of Wyoming ; and the instigations of these 
avaricious men, beyond doubt, had prompted Jus- 
tices Patterson and West, and the soldiers under 
them, to the course of wrong and outrage that had 
been pursued. When, however, the naked facts 
came to be known to the government, great indig- 
nation was produced. A commission was des- 
patched to Wyoming, to inquire into the state of 
the settlement, and their report was such as to 
cause the discharge of the troops, with the excep- 
tion of a small guard left at Fort Dickinson. A 
proclamation was likewise issued, inviting the 

* Chapman. 



HISTORY OF WYOMING. ^* 

people who had been driven away, to return to 
their homes, with a promise of protection on a due 
submission to the hiws. To a considerable ex- 
tent tills proclamation produced the desired effect, 
and the people returned. 

But the valley was not yet destined to become 
a place of quiet. The discharged soldiers had 
become partisans of the Pennsylvania land claim- 
ants. Many of them were, moreover, dissolute ; 
and after being disbanded, they hung around the 
settlements, living like banditti upon plunder. 
By the middle of July, so many of them had re- 
joined the guard in Fort Dickinson, that the gar- 
rison was becoming formidable, and the inhabi- 
tants, for self-pro ection, repaired and garrisoned 
Fort Forty. On the 20th of July, a party of the 
people in that fort, having occasion to visit their 
fields of grain five miles below, were fired upon 
by a detachment of thirty of Justice Patterson's 
men, from Fort Dickinson, commanded by a man 
named William Brink, and two of the people, 
Chester Pierce and Elisha Garrett, young men of 
promise, were killed. The loss of these distin- 
guished young men was deeply lamented, and the 
inhabitants determined that their death sho Id be 
avenged. Three days afterward, the garrison of 
Fort'^Forty marched upon Wilkesbarre in the 
night, for the purpose of making prisoners of Pat- 
ter^'son and his men, who were in the habit of 
lodging without the fort, when not apprehensive 
of danger ; but having been apprized of the inten. 
24 



278 HISTORY OF WYOMING. 

tion of the people, they had disposed themselves 
again for the night within the fort, and made pre- 
parations for defence. Not being prepared to in- 
vest their defence immediately, the people took 
possession of the flouring mill, which had been 
occupied by Patterson and his retainers, and 
havins: laid in a store of provisions for themselves 
at Fort Forty, they retired thither for the pur- 
pose of counsel and preparation for ulterior mea- 
sures. 

Three days afterward the fort was invested by 
the people. The garrison consisted of about sixty 
men, provided with four pieces of ordnance, and 
one hundred and sixty muskets. For the cannon 
there was no ammunition : but having a good 
supply for their small arms, and having despatch- 
ed an express to Philadelphia for assistance, they 
determined to hold out until the arrival of rein- 
forcements. The leader of the besiegers in this 
insurrection — if such it might be properly called 
— was Jolin Franklin, a native of Connecticut — 
an influential and resolute man — prime agent of 
the Susquehanna Company, and a colonel by po- 
pular election.* On the 27th of July, it having 
been determined to attempt carrying the fort by 
storm, Franklin, " in the name and on the behalf 
of the injured and incensed inhabitants holding 
their lands under the Connecticut claim," sent a 
formal summons to the garrison to surrender, not 

• Letter of Colonel Pickering. 



HISTORY OF WYOMING. 279 

the fortress only, bat likewise the possessions and 
other property of the besiegers, which had been 
taken from them " in a hostile and unconstitu- 
tional manner." It was added ihat if the sum- 
mons should be complied with, they " should be 
treated with humanity and commiseration — other- 
wise, the consequences would prove fatal and 
bloody to every person found in the garrison." 
Two hours were allowed them for an answer. But 
before these two hours had elapsed, information 
was received from below, that the magistrates of 
the county of Northumberland, (to which Wy- 
oming had been attached.) at the head of a body 
of troops, were marching to the succour of the 
garrison ; whereupon the siege was immediately 
raised, and the assailants returned to Fort Forty, 
resolving to remain there until the magistrates 
should arrive. 

The belligerent proceedings of the inhabitants 
in this emergency can the more readily be justi- 
fied, when it is considered that the party in the 
fort, at the head of which was Justice Patterson, 
was now making war upon them in behalf of the 
Pennsylvania claimants, on their own account. 
Under these circumstances, the people liad a right, 
not only to protect themselves, but to repel force by 
force. That such was the fact appears from the 
official proceedings of the Council of the State. 
On hearing of the affair of the 20th, in which 
two of the inhabitants had been wantonly mur- 
dered, the Council forthwith appointed a com- 



280 HISTORY OF WYOMING. 

mission with instructions to proceed to Wyom- 
ing, and restore peace by disarming both par- 
ties. And it happened to be the approach of the 
commissioners under this resoUition, that caused 
the raising of the siege of Fort Dickinson. They 
arrived on the 29th, and on the following day a 
conference was held between both parties, but 
without any reconciliation being effected. The 
commissioners* next made a demand, under the 
authority of the State, for the mutual surrender of 
the arms of the parties, and also of a suitable num- 
ber of persons as hostages, for the preservation of 
the peace. 

But neither persuasion nor demand produced 
the slightest effect upon either party. The truth 
was, both had heard that after the arrival of the 
express in Philadelphia, announcing the belea- 
guerment of the fort by the people, the Council of 
State had directed the Lieutenant of the county 
of Northampton to call forth a body of three hun- 
dred infantry, with a squadron of dragoons, to 
march for the subjugation of the people of Wy- 
oming. A simultaneous order was also given to 
the Sheriff of Northumberland to proceed with 
the power of his county, to the aid of the Lieuten- 
ant of Northampton. On the same day, viz : the 
29th of July, the Honourable John Boyd and 
Colonel John Armstrong were appointed commis- 
sioners for concerting and executing such measures 

* Chapman is tlic aulliorify for these details. The commissioners were 
Thomas Hewitt, Duvid Mead, and Robert Martin. 



HISTORY OF WYOMING. 281 

as they should judge necessary for establishing 
the peace and jrood order of the disaffected dis- 
trict. Under these circumstances, neither party 
would listen to the proposition for disarming. 
ThePennamites* counted upon adequate military 
support, while the Yankees were not disposed to 
surrender their arms, at a moment when a larger 
military force than any they had yet encountered 
was marching for their subjugation. 

Colonel Armstrong proceeded to Easton on the 
1st of August, where his forces were already col- 
lecting. On the 3d he advanced to the eastern 
verge of the Pokono mountain. He had, how- 
ever, previously detached Colonel Moore, with a 
party of volunteers, to a station called Locust Hill, 
about midway of the mountains, which the Major 
was directed to hold for the purpose of keeping 
the passage clear. Hearing of this advance of 
Moore, the people of Wyoming sent forward a 
company under the command of Captain Swift, 
to meet and repel him. This enterprise was ex- 
ecuted with tidelity. Swift took the party of 
Moore by surprise early on the morning of the 
2d of August, and after a brisk attack upon the 
log-house in which they were sheltered, Moore 
retreated with the loss of one man killed, and sev- 
eral wounded. Swift thereupon returned to Wy- 
oming, where Colonel Armstrong soon appeared 

* Pennamites was the name given the Pcnnaylvanians by the Connccticol 
settlers, who in turn were designated as Yankees, — Intruders, — Insurgentd, 
&c. Those civil broils are still called the Pennamite tours in Wyoming. 

24* 



282 HISTORY OF WYOMING. 

at the headj all told, of about four hundred men, 
including Patterson's troops, and a few militia-raea 
from Northumberland. 

The armed forces of the people were so strongly- 
entrenched in Fort Forty, that Armstrong dared 
not hazard an attack. He therefore had recourse 
to stratagem. A plausible manifesto was issued, 
declaring that he had come merely for the dispen- 
sation of justice, and the pacification of the valley. 
His object was the protection of the peaceable in- 
habitants, to which end it was necessary that both 
parties should be disarmed. For a time his pro- 
fessions were distrusted by the people ; but ulti- 
mately the earnestness and apparent sincerity of 
his protestations overcame their scruples, and 
numbers of them repaired to Fort Dickinson, to 
comply with his terms, and also to make reclama- 
tion of the property of which they had been plun- 
dered. But they had ample cause to lament their 
credulity, being arrested by scores, pinioned with 
strong cords, and marched off, in pairs, strongly 
guarded, to the prisons of Easton and Sunbury. 
Forty-two were sent to the latter prison, ten of 
whom, however, escaped on the morning after 
their arrival. In both prisons they were treated 
with inhumanity ; but the imprisonment at Eas- 
ton was of short duration. On the morning of 
September 17th, as the jailor was conveying their 
breakfast to them, he was knocked down by a 
young man named Inman, and the whole body 
made their escape. 



HISTORY OF WYOMING. 283 

On the departure of the prisoners, Armstrong 
had discharged the principal part of his forces, and 
made preparations with the residue to gather the 
crops planted to his hands by those whom he had 
dispossessed. But jiis army had been prematurely 
disbanded. With the return of the self-liberated 
prisoners, the residue of the inhabitants took arms, 
and being strengthened by a body of emigrants 
from Vermont, Fort Forty was again occupied, 
and dispositions promptly made to protect what 
remained unharvested of their crops. On the 
20th of September, a party of Armstrong's men, 
engaged in harvesting grain that did not belong 
to them, were attacked and driven into Fort Dick- 
inson. A strong detachment was immediately 
despatched in pursuit of the ^^ Insurgents, ^^ as 
Armstrong now called the people in arms ; but 
the latter took refuge in a log-house, which they 
defended with such spirit as to repulse their as- 
sailants, who bore away, as their only trophies, 
two wounded men. 

The people were suffering greatly by reason 
of the surrender of their fire arms ; and hearing 
that Colonel Armstrong had sent to Philadelphia 
for reinforcements, they resolved to make an eflbrt 
for the recovery of those arms, before any more 
troops should arrive. Having ascertained the par- 
ticular block-house in which the arms were de- 
posited, they made an attack on the night of the 
25th. but were repulsed; On the following day 
Colonel Armstrong proceeded to Philadelphia; 



284 HISTORY OF WYOxMING. 

and on the next, the block-house was carried by 
the people under John Franklin, two of the Pen- 
namite magistrates, Reed and Henderson, mortally 
wounded, and the arms recovered. A full state- 
ment of the transaction was forwarded to the gov- 
ernment by Franklin, acting for the people, in 
which it was declared that they had not been 
prompted by any disposition to disregard the laws, 
but only to be avenged upon Patterson and Arm- 
strong for their treachery.* 

Another military expedition against the " insur- 
gents " was immediately determined upon by the 
Council, to consist of two companies of fifty men 
each. The command was again entrusted to 
Colonel Armstrong, who was simultaneously pro- 
moted to the office of Adjutant General of the State. 
The President, Mr. Dickinson, made a strong re- 
monstrance against this proceeding, in writing ; 
but the Council was resolutely bent upon perse- 
verance, f The people of the state, however, were 
by this time becoming weary of the contest. Nor 
was this all : they were beginning to look upon the 
settlers of Wyoming as the persecuted party, and 

♦ Chapman. 

t Pennsylvania, at that time, had no officer bearing the title of governor. 
Under its first independent state cons»itution, the government of the com- 
monwealth was vested in a House of Representatives, a President, and a 
Council. There was also another branch of the government instituted by that 
constitution, called a Board of Censors, chosen by the people, and directed 
to meet once in seven years, to inquire whether the constitution had in the 
meantime been violated; whether the legislative and executive branches had 
performed their duties faithfully ; whether the laws had been duly and equal- 
ly executed, &c. &c. They could also try impeachments, and recommend 
the repeal of unwholesome laws, ice. 



HISTORY OB^ WYOMING. 



285 



their sympathies were kindling in tlieir favour. 
With all his efforts, therefore, the new Adjutant 
General was enabled to raise only forty men, at 
the head of whom he reappeared in the valley 
on the 16th of October. Fort Forty was im- 
mediately garrisoned by seventy men, under Mr. 
Franklin. These Armstrong did not feel strong 
enough to attack, and he called loudly upon the 
counties of Northampton, Berks, and Bucks, for 
assistance ; but in vain. Neither the Council, nor 
the leaders of the Pennsylvania claimants, could 
mduce a single recruit more to engage in a service 
now beconiUig iiui nupupular nitiely,bLit udiuus. 
Meantime the period for the septennial meeting 
of the Council of Censors had arrived, and the feel- 
ings of that body had become warmly enlisted in 
regard to the Wyoming proceedings. Having 
cognizance of the case, the Council called upon 
the General Assembly for the papers and docu- 
ments connected with the controversy. The As- 
sembly disregarded the call, and a mandamus was 
issued, which was received and treated with per- 
fect contempt. Finding their authority thus con- 
temned and utterly disregarded, the Council open- 
ly espoused the cause of the Connecticut settlers, 
and passed a public censure upon the government 
of the state, couched in strong language, for its con- 
duct toward those people — not indeed sanctioning 
the claim of the latter to the soil, but condemning 
allthe military and pretended civil proceedings that 
had been adopted against them — especially for the 



286 HISTORY OF WYOMING. 

reasoiij that after becoming subjects of Pennsyl- 
vania, the settlers had not been left to prosecute 
their claims in the proper course, without the in- 
tervention of the legislature. 

The stand thus taken by the Censors strength- 
ened the hands of the colonists, and also those of 
their friends in other parts of the state. The decla- 
ration of the Censors also furnished a reasonable 
excuse to the people to disobey alike the orders of 
the Council of State, and of Colonel Armstrong. 
Not another recruit, therefore, could be obtained ; 
and Armstrong found himself shut up in a block- 
house with a force too weak for offensive action, or 
even to forage for supplies. But the people them- 
selves, even had they not been annoyed by the 
presence of the soldiery, were in a deplorable con- 
dition. All their movable possessions had been 
swept away by the flood in March, and the labours 
of the spring and summer had been subjected to 
such incessant interruptions, while a large portion 
of their crops had been taken to glut the rapacity 
of their enemies, that they looked forward to the 
approachins^ winter with gloomy forebodings. 
They again petitioned Congress, and likewise 
made an affecting appeal for the friendly interpo- 
sition of the Legislature of Connecticut. In this 
latter appeal they stated "that their numbers 
were reduced to about two thousand souls, most 
of whom were women and children, driven, in 
many cases, from their proper habitations, and 
living in huts of bark in the woods, without pro- 



HISTORY OF WYOMING. 287 

visions for the approaching winter, while the 
Pennsylvania troops and land claimants were in 
possession of their houses and farms, and wasting^ 
and destroying their cattle and subsistence." The 
legislature of Connecticut, acknowledging their 
want of jurisdiction, could only express their sym- 
pathy, and promise the exertion of their friendly 
offices in behalf of the memorialists, both with 
Congress and the government of Pennsylvania. 
Happily, however, the settlers were speedily reliev- 
ed from the presence of the military, and that by 
no farther effort of iheir own. As winter ap- 
proached, finding that he could obtain neither 
recruits nor supplies. Colonel Armstrong dis- 
"charged his troops, and returned to Philadelphia. 
But although this was the last military de- 
monstration of Pennsylvania against Wyoming, 
the controversy was not yet ended. The people, 
it is true, were left to the quiet pursuit of their 
labours during the two succeeding years ; still, 
the question of their land titles was unadjusted, 
and they knew not how soon farther attempts 
mio;ht be made to dispossess them. There was 
indeed a kindlier feeling arising mutually between 
the parties; but every effort of the people to ob- 
tain a tribunal before which their title question 
should be submitted for a final decision, during 
these two years, was nevertheless unavailing. The 
population, however, continued to increase rapid- 
ly, not only in their own valley, but also above, 
below, and around it ; and in the autumn of 



288 HISTORY OF WYOMING. 

1786, the legislature, on the petition of the people 
of Wyoming, and the region north of it, to whom 
it was a great inconvenience to attend the court 
sixty and a hundred miles distant, at Sunbury, 
formed their territory into a new county, named 
*' Luzerne," in honour of the Chevalier De La 
Luzerne, who had just at that period returned to 
France from his embassy to the United States. In- 
deed the indications, upon both sides, rendered it 
obvious that a compromise was desired by each. 

It happened at about the same period that Colonel 
Timothy Pickering of Massachusetts, but at that 
time a resident of Pennsylvania, made a journey 
throuo^h Wyoming, to visit a tract of land in which 
he was interested, in and about the Great Bend 
of the Susquehanna, near the New- York line. 
While in Wyoming, Colonel Pickering embraced 
every opportunity to learn the feelings of the peo- 
ple in regard to the protracted dispute, and to as- 
certain the terms upon which their peaceable sub- 
mission to Pennsylvania might be effected. Being 
convinced that the settlers were entirely satisfied 
with the constitution of the state, and were willing 
to submit to its government, provided they could 
be quieted in the possession of their farms, on 
his return to Philadelphia he reported the result 
of his inquiries and convictions to several distin- 
guished gentlemen, among whom were Doctor 
Rush, and Mr. Wilson, an eminent lawyer, and 
afterward a judge of the Supreme Court of the 
United States. The idea was then suggested to the 



HISTORY OF WYOMING. 289 

minds of the Pennsylvanians, that being a New- 
England man, of high characterj the services of 
Colonel Pickering might be of great importance 
in effecting an arrangement between the parties. 
The subject was proposed to Mr. Pickering by Dr. 
Rush, with the proffer of an appointment to the 
five principal county offices, if he would remove 
to Wyoming with a view of exerting himself to 
put an end to the inveterate and disastrous con- 
troversy. After taking time for consideration, the 
proposition was accepted upon the basis already 
indicated, — viz: that he might assure the Con- 
necticut settlers that the Pennsylvania legislature 
would pass a law quieting them in their posses- 
sions. With this understanding, Colonel Picker- 
ing took the offices, and, clothed with the neces- 
sary power by the legislature, to hold elections 
and organize the county, proceeded to Wyoming in 
January, 1787. After spending a full month in 
visiting the people, the Colonel succeeded in per- 
suading them to apply to the legislature for a com- 
promise law, upon the principle heretofore sug- 
gested. His object, however, had well nigh been 
defeated, at one of the preliminary meetings, by a 
suggestion from INIajor John Jenkins, — known to 
the reader in a former chapter as Lieutenant Jen- 
kins, — who rose and remarked that they had too 
often experienced the bad faith of Pennsylvania, to 
place confidence in any new measure of its legis- 
lature ; and that if they were to enact a quieting 
law, they would repeal it as soon as the Connect- 
25 



290 HISTORY OF WYOMING. 

icut settlers submitted and were completely sad- 
dled with the laws of the state. Colonel Picker- 
ing, not anticipating any such act of Punic faith, 
repelled the suggestion with great earnestness, and 
at length succeeded in procuring the application. 
The proposition of the memorial was, that in case 
the commonwealth would grant them the seventeen 
townships which had been laid out, and in which 
settlements had been commenced previous to the 
decree of Trenton, they would on their part re- 
linquish all their claims to any other lands within 
the limits of the Susquehanna purchase/'^ The 
towns were represented to be as nearly square as 
circumstances would permit, and to be about live 
miles on a side, and severally divided into lots of 
three hundred acres each. Some of these lots 
were set apart as glebes, some for schools, and 
others for various town purposes, &c. 

Colonel Pickering proceeded to Philadelphia 
with the memorial, and aided, by his advice and 
counsel, the passage of the law. The case was 
environed with difficulties, not the least of which 
was the fact that many of the best lands, occupied 
by the Connecticut claimants, had likewise been 
granted by the Government of Pennsylvania to 
its own citizens. It was of course necessary that 
these claims should be quieted likewise. But as 
the state had three years before extinguished the 



Chapman. Theao townships were, Salcm, Newport, Hanover, VVilkes- 
barre, Pittston, Westmoreland, Putnam, Braintrcc, Springfield, Claverack, 
Ulster, Eieter, Kingston, Plymouth, Bedford, Huntington, and Providence. 



HISTORY OF WYOMING. 29! 

Indian title to several millions of acres of land, 
there was no lack of means for making new grants 
to those who might suffer in the arrangement 
with the Connecticut settlers. Be that as it might, 
the difficulties were surmounted ; a law, which it 
was supposed would answer every purpose in- 
tended, was passed ; under which commissioners 
were appointed to examine the claims on both 
sides ;* those of the Connecticut settlers to ascer- 
tain who were entitled to hold by tlie terms of the 
law ; those of the Pennsylvanians, to ascertain 
the quality, and appraise the value of each tract. 
The commissioners met in Wyoming in May, 
and made their arrangements preliminary to a for- 
mal examination and adjustment of such claims 
as might be presented to them at another session. 
to be held in August and September. The law 
gave general satisfaction to the people within the 
seventeen townships embraced in its provisions : 
and the commissioners entered upon their labours, 
at the time appointed, with a fair prospect of com- 
pleting the work within a reasonable time. But 
fresh difficulties arose in another quarter. The 
Connecticut settlements had been extended, in se- 
veral directions, considerably beyond the limits of 
the towns designated, and the people of those set- 
tlements were greatly dissatisfied because they 
were not included in the arrangement. It is be- 
lieved, moreover, that pending the negotiations for 

• The commissioners were Timothy Pickering, William Montgomerr, and 
Stephen Balliott. 



292 HISTORY OF WYOMING. 

the compromise, the Susquehanna Company had 
been exerting themselves to pour as many settlers 
into those unincluded districts as possible. Co- 
lonel Pickering asserts positively, that " they in- 
vited and encourao'cd emiffrafions from the states 
eastward of Pennsylvania, of all men destitute of 
property, who could be tempted by the gratuitous 
offer of lands, on the single condition that they 
should enter upon them armed, ' to man their 
rights,' according to the cant phrase of the day. 
By this arrangement the Company hoped to pour 
in such a mass of young and able-bodied men as 
would appear formidable to the Pennsylvania 
government, to subdue and expel whom would 
require a considerable military force, to be raised 
and maintained at a heavy expense of treasure, 
and perhaps of blood ;" to avoid which evils they 
hoped that Pennsylvania would ultimately be 
brought to their own terms. John Franklin had 
exerted himself, beyond doubt, for that object ; and 
he now became the leader of a new party, de- 
termined to defeat the execution of the law. He 
was a man of activity, shrev/dness, and great 
energy and influence ; and by visiting the people 
of the settlements, he soon stirred up a commo- 
tion that compelled the commissioners to flee 
from the coimtry for safety. Evidence of his 
practices having been ^communicated to Chief 
Justice M'Kean, his warrant was issued for the 
arrest of Franklin on a charge of treason. It was 
not judged advisable to direct the sherifi'of Lu- 



HISTORY OF WYOMING. 293 

zerne, who had just been elected, and whose resi- 
dence was among the turbnlent men under the 
influence of Franklin, to serve the writ, and it 
was therefore directed to four gentlemen of known 
fortitude, two of whom had served in the army of 
the revolution. Franklin was at the time absent 
on an incendiary mission, thirty-five miles farther 
down the valley. On his return, every necessary 
preparation having been made for his safe conduct 
to Philadelphia, he was arrested. He resisted tiie 
special officers, however, to the utmost, and would 
unquestionably have effected his escape, or been 
rescued, — for the people were already assembling 
with that design. — had it not been for the exer- 
tions and the courage of Colonel Pickering. Ob- 
serving the commotion from the window, he 
rushed out with a pair of loaded pistols, and 
caused Franklin to be secured by cords, and 
bound upon the horse prepared for his journey. 
He was then conducted off", and taken in safety to 
Philadelphia, and thrown into prison. 

Colonel Pickering always avowed that he 
should not have interfered in the case but for the 
conviction that the welfare of the people and the 
public peace depended upon securing the person 
of that daring man. Deeply, however, did he 
incur the resentment of Franklin's partisans. 
Their leader had scarcely disappeared in the di- 
rection of Philadelphia, before symptoms were 
discovered that vengeance was to be wreaked 
upon the head of Colonel Pickering, and he was 
25* 



294 HISTORY OF WYOMING. 

admonished by his friendly neighbours that it 
would be wise for him to leave his domicil for a 
short pericd, until their passions had time to cool. 
He listened to the- admonition, just in time to se- 
crete himself in a neighbouring wood before " the 
Philistines were upon him." Returning to his 
family in the evening, some of his neighbours as- 
sembled in arms for his protection ; but before he 
had finished his supper, tidings came tliat Frank- 
lin's men were embodying in arms on the oppo- 
site side of the river, and were even then pre- 
paring to cross over and attack him. Taking a 
loaded pistol with him, and a few small biscuits, 
the Colonel retired to a neighbouring field, and 
was soon apprized by the yells of the insurgents 
that he had not effected his escape a moment too 
soon. The noise subsiding, he correctly judged 
that the neighbours who had armed for his de- 
fence, and had fastened the house, had been com- 
pelled to surrender. Such proved to be the fact, 
and the insurgents made a thorough search of the 
house in the hope of findinir the object of their 
vengeance. Having been joined by Mr. Evan 
Griflith, Secretary of the Commissioners, and an 
inmate of Colonel Pickering's house, the two re- 
tired to the mountains, where they passed the night. 
Through a German friend occupying one of his 
farms, the Colonel was enabled on the following 
day to communicate with his family. Ascertain- 
ing in this way that it would be unsafe for him 
to return, and that the search for him was yet con- 



HISTORY OF WYOMING. 295 

tiiiued, Colonel Pickering determined to make his 
way to Philadelphia, and from the distance watch 
the course of events. It was near the middle of 
October. He was without provisions, and thinly- 
clad ; but no time was to be lost, and he was com- 
pelled to direct his course through the deep forests 
and over the mountains heretofore described. 
There was, indeed, an indifferent road leading in 
the proper direction ; but by attempting to travel 
upon this, he had well nigh fallen into the hands 
of a party of the insurgents who were on the watch 
to intercept his flight. Yet, after a severe journey, 
the Colonel arrived in safety at Philadelphia, 
about a month after the convention that formed 
the Constitution of the United States had ad- 
journed. 

Franklin had arrived there before liim, and was 
in jail. Deprived of his counsel and leadership, 
his insurgent partizans, reflecting upon the rash- 
ness of their conduct, and also upon its illegality, 
began to relent, and sent a petition to the Council, 
acknowledging their oflence, and praying for a par- 
don. This was readily granted, and conveyed to 
them by Colonel Dennison, member of the Council 
from Luzerne. Colonel Pickering now supposed 
of course that he could join his family in safety; 
but having arrived within twenty-five miles of 
Wyoming, a messenger whom he had despatched 
in advance, to ascertain the popular feeling, met 
him with a message from liis friends that it would 
yet be unsafe for him to come into the valley. 



296 HISTORY OF WYOMING. 

Upon the receipt of these advices, he returned to 
Philadelphia, where he remained until January. 
Meantime a state convention had been called to 
deliberate upon the draft of a constitution submit- 
ted to the people of the United States by the na- 
tional convention on the 17th of September, — to 
which state convention Colonel Pickering was 
chosen a delegate by the people of that very county 
from which he was kept in banishment I What a 
striking illustration does this fact present, of the 
inconsistencies into which the people may be hur- 
ried by passion and caprice ! They would select 
Colonel Pickering, of all others, to sit in judgment 
upon an instrument, which, if adopted, was to be- 
come the grand regulating machine of their politi- 
cal and religious principles, — the charter of their 
liberty, and that of their posterity, in all time to 
come, — while they would not trust the same in- 
dividual to decide for them in the matter of a 
contested title to a few hundred dollars' worth of 
land! 

Havinof attended to his duties in the conven- 
tion. Colonel Pickering presented himself among 
his constituents in January, 1788. Franklin yet 
remained in prison. Next to his confinement, the 
out-and-out opponents of the compromise law 
deemed the presence of Colonel Pickering within 
the disputed territory, as working the greatest 
detriment to their schemes. There were various 
indications, therefore, for several weeks, that a con- 
spiracy was on foot to drive him from the county. 



HISTORY OF WYOMING. 297 

Indeed it was menacingly intimated to iiim by 
Major Jenkins, in the month of April, that such 
was the fact. But the Colonel was neither dis- 
posed to relinquish the cause of pacification in 
which he had engaged, nor to abandon his farms 
and improvements. He therefore pursued his oc- 
cupations as usual, until the night of the 26th of 
June, when he was awaked from his sleep by a 
violent opening of the door of his apartment.— 
"Who is there?" he demanded. "Get up," was 
the answer. " Don't strike," said Colonel Picker- 
ing ; " I have an infant on my arm." Then roll- 
ing the child from his arm, the Colonel arose and 
dressed, while Mrs. Pickering slipped out of bed 
on the other side, and throwing on a few clothes 
groped her way to the kitchen for a bght. on re- 
turning with which they saw the room filled with 
men, aniied with guns and hatchets, with black- 
ened faces, and handkerchiefs tied around their 
heads. Their first act was to pinion the Colonel 
by tying his arms across his back with a strong 
cord, — long enough for one of the party to hold 
in order to prevent an escape,— having in the 
course of their proceedings admonished Mrs. Pick- 
ering that they would tomahawk her if she made 
any noise. Having thus secured his person, they 
advised him to take a blanket, or a thick outer 
garment with him, as he would be a long time in 
a situation to need it. Mrs. Pickering thereupon 
handed the Colonel his surtout, and they depart- 
ed with their captive. It appeared that there 



298 HISTORY OF WYOMING. 

were fifteen of the ruffians. Not a word more 
than was necessary was spoken, and their march 
in the darkness and stillness of the niirht was 
along the valley north to Pittstown, ten miles, 
Vv^here they halted at a tavern for a few minutes. 
After refreshing themselves with whiskey, — not 
omitting to offer some to their captive, which was 
declined, — they pursued their journey, while it 
was yet dark as Erebus. They had not proceed- 
ed far from the tavern, before one of the ruflians 
marching by the Colonel's side broke silence by 
saying: — 

" Now, if you will only write two or three lines 
to the Executive Council, they will discharge Co- 
lonel Franklin, and we will release you." 

The object of the abduction was at once dis- 
closed. But the ruffians had mistaken their man. 
The instant reply of the Colonel was, — 

" The Executive Council better understand 
their duty than to discharge a traitor to procure 
tlie release of an innocent man." 

" Damn him !" exclaimed one of the party, 
marching as a guard in the rear, whose wrath had 
been excited by the application of the epithet 
"traitor" to Franklin, "why don't you toma- 
hawk him?" 

Their march was then continued in the same 
sullen silence as before. Bad as they were, how- 
ever, these misguided men were not altogether 
destitute of civility, or kind feelings. On their 
arrival at the Lackawannock river, finding the 



HISTORY OF WYOMING. 299 

water so low that the canoe grounded in crossing 
it, one of the party waded to the shore, and divest- 
ing himself of his pack, returned and carried the 
Colonel over on his back. 

In the course of the morning they crossed to the 
west side of the Susquehanna, by a ferry, and pur- 
sued their journey thirty miles from Wilkcsbarre, 
to a log-house, near the river, at which they 
halted, and cooked some victuals, of which they 
all made a hearty meal — it being the first food 
they had tasted since the night before. Seeing a 
bed in the room. Colonel Pickering lay down to 
rest, and found himself unpinioned when he arose. 
While he was on the bed, and, as the party sup- 
posed, asleep, they were overtaken by a man from 
Joseph's Plains, two miles from VVilkesbarrc, who 
informed them that the militia had turned out, and 
were in pursuit. The insurgents immediately 
disturbed the repose of their prisoner, and retired 
back from the river about a quarter of a mile, en- 
camping behind a hill in tlie woods. Here they 
remained during the night, encountering a severe 
thunder-storm. In the morning, finding all quiet 
at the river, they returned to the house, where 
they obtained breakfast. At about ten o'clock, a 
man was descried on the opposite side of the river, 
leading his horse, at which one of the party ex- 
claimed — " There goes Major Jenkins, now, — a 

d — d stinking: son of a !" It was obvious 

from this remark, that Jenkins had been prompt- 
ing the outrage, but with more cunning than bold- 



300 HISTORY OF WYOMING. 

ness, had avoided any direct participation in its 
execution. He was indeed at that time leaving 
Wyoming for the state of New- York, where he 
employed himself as a land surveyor until tran- 
quility had been restored. 

Preparations were now making to cross to the 
eastern side of the Susquehanna ; and as the 
blacking began by this time to disappear from the 
faces of the captors, Colonel Pickering discerned 
among the party two sons of a near neighbour, 
named Dudley — Gideon and Jacob. These were 
the only persons of the gang whom he knew. 
Before entering the canoe, one of them attempted 
to manacle the prisoner with a pair of handcuffs, 
against which he remonstrated ; and at the inter- 
position of a man named Earl, who also had two 
sons of the party, the Colonel was spared that in- 
convenience and deo^radation. Havingf crossed 
the river, after an hour's march, the leader of the 
party despatched all but four of his men upon 
separate duty. With these four to guard the pri- 
soner, the leader struck ofl' directly into the woods. 
The Colonel's apprehensions were somewhat ex- 
cited by this movement, — more so from the cir- 
cumstance that he had heard the leader described 
as a bold, bad man. But his apprehensions of 
personal injury were groundless. They had not 
travelled more than an hour before a fawn was 
started, " and as he bounded along, this leader, 
who was an expert hunter, shot him, and in five 
minutes he had his skin off, and the carcass slung 



HISTORY OF WYOMING. 301 

upon his back." At the distance of tliree or four 
miles from the river, on arriving at a brook that 
came dancing across their coarse, they halted, 
struck a fire, and began to cook some of their 
venison. " The hunter who had killed it, — their 
leader, — took the first cut. They sharpened small 
sticks at both ends, running one into a slice of 
the fawn, and setting the other into the ground, 
the top of the stick being so near the fire as to 
broil the flesh." Being hungry, the Colonel bor- 
rowed one of their knives and began cooking 
for himself. He observed that the hunter was 
tending his steak with great nicety, — sprinkling 
it with salt, — and as soon as it was done, with a 
very good grace, he presented it to their captive. 
They erected a booth with branches of trees, 
and remained at this place about a week — most 
of the time upon short allowance of food, and that 
of a coarse quality. In the course of their con- 
versations, they had informed the Colonel that 
they were to be supported by a body of four hun- 
dred men. He assured them that they were de- 
ceiving themselves, and that they would be sorry 
for what they were doing, since, so for from being 
supported, they would be abandoned to their fate. 
From this station they removed to another, in a 
narrow sequestered valley, not more than two or 
three miles from the river. Here they produced 
a chain five or six feet long, having at one end a 
fetter for the anckle. They said they were re 
luctant to put the chain upon him, but Colonel 
26 



302 HISTORY OF WYOMING. 

Franklin had been put in irons, and " their great 
men required it." The chain was then made fast 
to the prisoner's leg, and the other end fastened to 
a tree by a staple. Escaps was now impossible. 
Another booth was erected, and when they lay 
down for the night, one of the guards wound the 
chain around one of his own legs. But the Colo- 
nel had no design of attempting an escape. Sa- 
tisfied that they did not intend to take his life, he 
determined in his own mind to await the course 
of events with as much patience as he could com- 
mand. 

They had been at this place but two or three 
days, when, one morning, before his guards were 
awake, the Colonel heard a brisk firing, as of 
musketry, in the direction of the river. But of 
this circumstance he said nothing to his keepers, 
not doubting, in his own mind, that it was a skir- 
mish between the insurgents and the militia, sent 
after them, and for his rescue. Such proved to 
be the fact. After breakfast one of his keepers 
went down to a house in their interest by the 
river, but returned in haste, to inform his com- 
rades that "the boys," as they called their asso- 
ciates, had met the militia, and that Captain Ross, 
who commanded the latter, was mortally wound- 
ded.* They were now at Black Walnut Bottom, 

* Happily fliis statement was erroneous. The Captain Ross l.cre spoKen 
of, is the present General Ross of Wilkesbarru. " A company of about fif- 
teen men under Captain William Ross pursued the rioters, but as they had 
concealed themselves in the woods, among the mountains of Mahoojieny, the 
place of their retreat was not easily aECcrtained, particularly as tlicir move- 



HISTORY OF WYOMING. 303 

forty-four miles above Wilkcsbarre. During the 
whole time, the guards of Colonel Pickering were 
in comm nication with thei; comrades in the vi- 
cinity ; and after this ; flair with Captain Ross, 
they were evidently becoming more uneasy every 
hour. They changed their stations several times, 
and again crossed to the west side of the river, 
undercover of the night. On the 15th of July, 
Gideon Dudley, who seemed to have become the 
leader of the party, visited the station where Co- 
lonel Pickering was kept, and attempted to renew 
the negotiation for his influence in behalf of 
Franklin. But the Colonel positively refused to 
purchase his own liberty in that manner. He 
was then asked by Dudley if he would intercede 
for their pardon, in the event of his release. He 
told them he would answer no questions until 
they knocked off his chain. It was instantly 
taken ofl*. The Colonel then said to them, that in 
the belief that they had been deluded and de- 
ceived, — that they had been acting in obedience 
to the orders of those whom they called tlieir 
" great men," — he would exert his influence for 
their pardon, if they would give him their names ; 
adding, that he entertained no doubt of being able 
to obtain it. The demand of names was not rea- 

ments were only in the night ; for during the day thoy lay concealed to guard 
their prisoner, who was kept bound to a tree. About the dawn of the day, 
Captain Ross's company fell in with a company of the rioters, near llic mouth 
of Meshoppen Creek, and a skirmisli ensued in which Captain Rosa wa» 
wounded. Colonel Myers and Captain Schotts also proceeded with & 
portion of the militia, in pursuit of the rioters. A sword was afterward pre - 
Bented to Captain Ross, by the Supreme Executive Couucil, for hij gallinlrjr 
in this affair." — Chapman. 



304 HISTORY OP WYOMING. 

dily assented to, causing the delay of a day in the 
negotiation. On the 16th they removed to the 
house of a man named Kilburne, father of two of 
the party. The Colonel, who had been nineteen 
days without a razor for his beard, or a change 
of clothes, was here provided with shaving ap- 
paratus and a clean shirt and stockings, and then 
informed that he was at liberty. A comfortable 
dinner was next prepared, after which '' the boys " 
importunately renewed their application in behalf 
of Franklin. This request was again peremptorily 
refused. In regard to themselves, — thirty-two 
of the party being then present, — the Colonel 
again proifered his influence in their behalf, on 
condition that the names of their "great men" 
should be given up. But after a side consulta- 
tion they rejected the terms, declaring that the 
severest punishment in the world to come ought 
to be meted to any one of their number who 
should betray them. 

Their last request to Colonel Pickering was, 
that he would write a petition for them to the Ex- 
ecutive Council, and be the bearer of it himself to 
Wilkesbarre, whence he might forwcud it for them 
to Philadelphia. To this request he assented ; 
and forthwith took his departure for his own 
home, where he arrived on the following day 
without farther molestation. 

The sequel to this singular outrage upon Colo- 
nel Pickering is briefly told. Without waiting 
for the result of their petition to the Council, most 



HISTORY OF WYOMING. 



305 



of the actual perpetrators of the outrage fled north- 
ward, taking refuge in the State of New-York. 
On their way thither they encountered a de- 
tachment of militia, under the command of Cap- 
tain Roswell Franklin, who had been sent out in 
pursuit of them, and with whom they exchanged 
several shots. By one of them Joseph Dudley 
was badly wounded. The others escaped. Dud- 
ley was conveyed to Wilkesbarre, a distance of 
sixty or seventy miles, in a canoe. The physician 
who was sent for had no medicine, and the wants 
of the wounded man were supplied from the med- 
icine chest of Colonel Pickering, which had been 
made up by Dr. Rush. He survived but a few 
days, and Mrs. Pickering supplied a winding- 
sheet for his burial. 

At the Oyer and Terminer held in Wilkesbarre 
in the succeeding autumn, several of the rioters 
were tried and and convicted. " They were fined 
and imprisoned, in different sums, and for differ- 
ent lengths of time, according to the aggravation 
of their offence. But they had no money where- 
with to pay their fines, and the jail at AVilkes- 
barre was so insufiicient, that they all made their 
escape, excepting Stephen Jenkins, brother of Ma. 
jor John Jenkins." Although concerned in the 
plot, he was not in arms with the insurgents ; and 
when the others escaped, he preferred to remain 
and trust to the clemency of the government. 
The consequence was that he soon afterward re- 
ceived a pardon. 

26* 



306 HISTORY OF WYOMING. 

Captain Roswell Franklin, whose name has just 
been mentioned, is pronounced by Colonel Pick- 
ering to ha.ve been a worthy man, but he came to 
a melancholy end. " Wearied with the disorders 
and uncertain state of things at Wyoming, he re- 
moved with his family into the State of New- 
York, and sat down upon a piece of land to which 
he had no title. Others had done the same. The 
country was new and without inhabitants. They 
cleared land, and raised crops, to subsist their fam- 
ilies and stock. In two or three years, after all 
their crops for the season were harvested, their 
hay and grain in stack, and they anticipated pass- 
ing the approaching winter comfortably, Governor 
George Clinton sent orders to the sheriff of the 
nearest county to raise the militia and drive off 
the untitled occupants. These orders were as se- 
verely as promptly executed, and the barns and 
crops all burnt. Reduced thus to despair, Cap- 
tain Franklin shot himself"* John Franklin, so 
often mentioned, and whose arrest and imprison- 
ment for his treasonable practices was the cause 
for the abduction of Colonel Pickering, was in- 
dicted and remained in prison for a considerable 
period. He was ultimately liberated on bail : and 
after all opposition to the government in Luzerne 
county had ceased, he was fully discharged. His 
popularity with the people remained, and lie was 
afterward, for several years, a member of the Penn- 

*■ Pii-kcring's Letter to his Son. 



HISTORY OF WYOMING. 307 

sylvania Legislature. Meeting with Colonel 
Pickering in subsequent years, they interchanged 
the ordinary civilities that pass between gen- 
tlemen.* 

The prediction of Major John Jenkins to Colo- 
nel Pickering, at the time when the latter gentle- 
man undertook the pacification of the valley, that 
even should the General Asseml)ly pass the de- 
sired compromise act, they would repeal it at their 
own pleasure, was verified, sooner, perhaps, than 
the prophet himself anticipated. But the turbu- 
lent settlers had themselves to thank for this vio- 
lation of the public faith, if a violation of faith it 
could be called which was superinduced by the 
bad conduct of many of those for whose chief be- 
nefit the law had been originally designed. The 
law was suspended in the year succeeding the 
transactions detailed in the present chapter, and 
was afterward entirely repealed. " Thus the 
question of title was again thrown into its former 
position, and during the succeeding ten years 
continued to retard the settlement of the country, 
and to create continual contention and distrust 
between the respective claimants. But the situa- 
tion of the inhabitants was very different from 
what it had been in former stages of the contro- 

* In closing this narrative of the captivity of Colonel Pickering in Wy- 
oming, it is proper to say that the facts have been drawn immediately from 
the letter to his son, cited occasionally in the notes to some of the preceding 
chapters. For a copy of this letter, which was first rend by the author about 
ton years ago, he is indebted to VV»lliam M'llhennoy, Es«|., Librarian of the 
Philadelphia Athenajiim, who found it in Hazard's Pennsylvania Rfgistcr, 
wh.;re it was published in the spring of 1831. 



308 HISTORY OF WYOMING. 

versy. They were represented in the General 
Assembly by one of their own mimber, and were 
the executors of the laws within their own district. 
Pennsylvania had adopted a new constitution, and 
was governed by a more liberal policy. Petitions 
were again presented to the legislature for the 
passage of another law, upon the principles of the 
one which had been repealed, and, in April, 1799, 
an act was passed in conformity to the prayer of 
the petition, so far as it regarded the seventeen 
townships contemplated by the original law."* 
The difficulties connected with the settlement of 
that portion of the Susquehanna Company's claim 
not included by the act, were continued two or 
three years longer, during which the Company 
exerted itself as before, in sending forward clouds 
of adventurous sj)irits to plant themselves upon 
the disputed territory ; nor did they desist until 
the Legislature of Pennsylvania had provided 
against farther intrusions by a bill of severe pains 
and penalties. Ultim.ately the claims were all 
quieted, and the Pennsylvania titles fairly estab- 
lished. 

The population of tliat portion of Pennsylvania 
is chiefly from INew-England ; and for the last 
thirty-five years the valley of Wyoming has been 
as remarkable for its tranquillity, as for the fifty 
preceding years it had been for its turbulence. 
It is indeed a lovely spot, which, had Milton seen 

* Chapman. 



HISTORY OF WYOMING. 309 

it before the composition of his immortal Epic, 
might well have suggested some portions of his 
gorgeous description of Paradise. The lofty and 
verdant mountains which shut the valley from the 
rest of the world correspond well with the great 
poet's 



" enclosure f reen, 

Of a stpcp wilderness ; whose hairy sides 
With thicket overgrown, grotesque and wild, 
Access deni'd ; wliile overhead up grew 
Insuperable height of loftiest shade, 
Cedar, and pine, and fir, and branching palm, 
A sylvan scene ; and as the ranks ascend, 
Shade above shade, a woody theatre 
Of stateliest view." 

Wyoming is larger, by far, than the Thessalian 
vale which the poets of old so often sang, though 
not less beautiful. If its mountain-barriers are 
not honoured by the classic names of Ossa and 
Olympus, they are much more lofty. Instead of 
the Peneus, a mightier river rolls its volume 
through its verdant meadows ; and if the gods of 
the Greek Mythology were wont to honour Tempp: 
with their presence, in times of old, they would 
prove their good taste, and their love of the ro- 
mantic and beautiful, in these modern days, by 
taking an occasional stroll among the cool shades 
and flowery paths of Wyoming. 



NOTES 

TO GERTRUDE OF WYOxVIlNG 



PART 1. 



Stanza 3,1. 6. 
From merry mock-bird' s song. 

The mocking-bird is of the form, but larger, than the thrush ; and the co- 
lours are a mixture of black, white, and gray. Wliat is said of the nightin- 
gale by its greatest admirers, is, what may with more propriety apply to thii 
bird, who, in a natural state, sings with very superior taste. Towards eve- 
ning I have heard one begin softly, reserving its breath to swell certain notes, 
which, by this means, had a most astonishing effect. A gentleman in Lon- 
don had one of these birds for six years. During the space of a minute he 
was heard to imitate the woodlark, chatiinch, blackbird, thrush, and sparrow . 
In this country (America) I have frequently known the mocking-birds so en- 
gaged in this mimicry, that it was with much difficulty 1 could ever obtain an 
opportunity of hearing their own natural note. Some go so far as to say, that 
they have neither peculiar notes, nor favourite imitations. This may he de- 
nied. Their few natural notes resemble those of the (European) nightingale. 
Their song, however, has a greater compass and vohime than the nightin- 
gale, and they have the faculty of varying all intermediate notes in a man- 
ner which is truly delightful. — Ashe's Travels in America, vol. ii. p. 73. 

Stanza 5, 1. 9. 
And distant isles that hear the loud Corbrcchtan roar. 
The Corybrechtan, or Corbrcchtan, is a whirlpool on the western coa«t of 
Scotland, near the island of Jura, which is heard at a prodigious distanre. 
Its name signifies the wiiirlpool of the Prince of Denmark ; and there ia a 
tradition that a Danish Prince once undertook, for a wager, to cast anchor 
in it. He is said to have used woollen instead of hempen ropen, for greater 
Btrength, but perished in the attempt. On the shores of Argylcshiro, I hare 
often listened with groat delight to the sound of this vortex, at iho disUoc* 



312 NOTES TO GERTRUDE OF WYOMING. 

of many leagues. When the weather is calm, and the adjacent sea scarcely 
heard on these picturesque shores, its sound, wliich is like the sound of innu- 
merable chariots, creates a magnificent and fine effect. 

Stanza 13, 1. 4. 
Of huslciii'd limb and swarthy lineament. 
In the Indian tribes there is a great similarity in their colour, stature, &c. 
They are all, except the Snake Indians, tall in stature, straight, and robust. 
It is very seldom they are deformed, which has given rise to the supposition 
that they put to death their deformed children. Their skin is of a copper 
colour ; their eyes large, bright, black, and sparkling, indicative of a subtle 
and discerning mind ; their hair is of the same colour, and prone to belong, 
seldom or never curled. Their teeth are large and white ; I never observed 
any decayed among them, which makes their breath as sweet as the air they 
inhale. — Travels through America by Capts. Leiois and Clarke^ in 1804 — 
5—6. 

Stanza 14, 1. 6. 
Peace be to thee ! my words this belt approve. 
The Indians of North America accompany every formal address to stran- 
gers, with whom they form or recognise a t»-eaty of amity, with a present of a 
string or belt of wampum. Wampum (says Cadwallader Colden) is made of 
the large whelk shell, Buccinum, and shaped liked long beads ; it is the cur- 
rent money of the Indians. — History of the Five Indian J^''ations, p. 34. — 
JVeio- York edition. 

Stanza 14, 1. 7. 
The paths of peace my steps have hither led. 
In relating an interview of Mohawk Indians with the Governor of New- 
York, Colden quotes the following passage as a specimen of their metaphor- 
ical manner : "Where shall I seek the chair of peace 1 Where shall I find 
it but upon our path? and whither doth our path lead us but unto this 
house ?" 

Stanza 15, 1. 2. 
Our wampum league thy brethren did embrace. 
When they solicit the alliance, offensive or defensive, of a whole nation, 
they send an embassy with a large belt of wampum and a bloody hatchet, 
inviting them to come and drink the blood of their enemies. The wampum 
made use of on these and other occasions, before their acquaintance with the 
Europeans, was nothing but small shells which they picked up by the sea- 
coasts, and on the banks of the lakes; and now it is nothing but a kind of 
cylindrical beads, made of shells, white and black, which are esteemed 
among them as silver and gold are among us. The black they call the most 
valuable, and both together are their greatest riches and ornaments ; these 



NOTES TO PART 1. 313 

among them answering all the end that money does amongst us. They have 
the art of stringing, twisting, and interweaving them into their belts, collars, 
blankets, and moccasins, ice, in ten thousand dillLrent sizes, forms, and fig- 
ures, so as to bo ornaments for every part of dresn, and expressive to them 
of all their important transactions. They dye the wampum of various colours 
and shades, and mix and dispose them with great ingenuity and order, and 
Bo as to be significant among themselves of almost every thing they please ; 
so that by these their words are kept, and their thoughts communicated to 
one another, as ours arc by writing. The belts that pass from one nation to 
another in all treaties, declarations, and important transactions, are very 
carefully preserved in the cabins of their chiefs, and serve not only as a kind 
of record or history, but as a public treasure. — Major Rogers's Account of 
J^orth America. 

Stanza. 17, 1. 5. 

As when the evil Manitou. 

It is certain that the Indians acknowledge one Supreme Being, or Giver of 
Life, who presides over all things ; that is, the Great Spirit ; and they look 
up to him as the source of good, from whence no evil can proceed. They 
also believe in a bad Spirit, to whom they ascribe great power ; and suppose 
that through his power all the evils which befall mankind are inflicted. To 
him, therefore, they pray in their distresses, begging that he would either avert 
their troubles, or moderate them when they are no longer unavoidable. 

They hold also that there are good Spirits of a lower degree, who have 
their particular departments, in which they are constantly contributing to the 
happiness of mortals. These they suppose to preside over all the extraordi- 
nary productions of Nature, such as those lakes, rivers, and mountains, that 
are of uncommon magnitude ; and likewise ihe beasts, birds, fishes, and even 
vegetables or stones, that exceed the rest of their species in size or singulari- 
ty. — Clarke's Travels among- the Indians. 

The Supreme Spirit of good is called by the Indians Kitchi ilanitou ; and 
the Spirit of evil, Matchi Manitou. 

Stanza 19, 1. 2. 
Fever-balm and meet tagnmiti 
The fever-balm is a medicine used by iheso tribes ; it is a decoction of a 
bush called the Fever Tree. Sagamite is a kind of soup administered to 
their sick. 

Stanza 20, 1. 1. 
And /, tAe eagle of iru/ ttibe,havt riuk'd with thit lorn dov*. 
The testimony of all travellers among the American Indiana who montioo 
their hieroglyphics, authorizes m« in putting thi.t figurative language in tho 
mouth of Outttlissi. The dove is among them, us elsewhere, an emblem of 
meekness ; and the eagle, tlialof a bold, noble, and liberal mind. When the 
Indians speak of a warrior who sours above tlio multitude in person and en- 

27 



314 GERTRUDE OF WYOMING. 

dowments, they say, "he is like the eagle, who destroys his enemies, and 
gives protection and abundance to the weak of his own tribe." 

Stanza 23, 1. 2. 
Far differently, the mute Oneida took, etc 
They are extremely circumspect and deliberate in every word and action ; 
nothing hurries them into any intemperate wrath, but that inveteracy to their 
enemies, which is rooted in every Indian's breast. In all other instances they 
are cool and deliberate, taking care to suppress the emotions of the heart. 
If an Indian has discovered tliat a friend of his is in danger of being cut off 
by a lurking enemy, lie does not tell him of his danger in direct terms, as 
though he were in fear, but he first coolly asks him which way he is going 
that day, and having his answer, with the same indifference tells him that he 
has been informed that a noxious beast lies on the route he is going. This 
hint proves sufficient, and his friend avoids the danger with as much caution 
as though every design and motion of his enemy had been pointed out to 
him. 

If an Indian has been engaged for several days in the chase, and by acci- 
dent continued long without food, when he arrives at the hut of a friend, 
where he knows his wants will be immediately supplied, he takes care not to 
show the least symptoms of impatience, or betray the extreme hunger tnat he is 
tortured with ; but on being invited in, sits contentedly down and smokes his 
pipe with as much composure as if his appetite was cloyed, and he was perfect- 
ly at ease. He does the same if among strangers. This custom is strictly ad- 
hered to by every tribe, as they esteem it a proof of fortitude, and think tho 
reverse would entitle them to the appellation of old women. 

If you tell an Indian that his children have greatly signalized themselves 
against an enemy, have taken many scalps, and brought home many prisoners, 
ho does not appear to feel any strong emotions of pleasure on the occnsion; 
his answer generally is — they have "done well," and he makes but very 
little inquiry about the matter ; on the contrary, if you inform him that his 
children are slain or taken prisoners, he makes no complaints: he only re- 
plies, " It is unfortunate : — and for some time asks no questions about how 
it happened. — Lewis and Clarke's Travels. 

Stanza 23, 1. 3. 

Jlis calumet of peace, Sfc. 
Nor is the calumet of less importance or less revered than the wampum, in 
many transactions relative both to peace and war. The bowl of this pipe is 
made of a kind of soft red stone, which is easily wrought and hollowed out ; 
tlie stem is of cane, alder, or some kind of light wood, painted with different 
colours, and decorated with the heads, tails, and feathers of the most beauti- 
ful birds. The use of the culumot is to smoke either tobacco, or some bark, 
leaf, or herb, which they often use instead of it, when they enter into an al- 
liance, or any serious occasion, or solemn engagements ; this being among 
them the most sacred oath that can be taken, the violation of which is es- 



NOTES TO PART 1. 315 

teemed most infamous, and deatTvinj; of severe punishment from lloavoo. 
When they treat of war, the whole pipe and all its ornamenu are red ; loroe 
times it is only red on one side, and by the disposition of the feathers, Ac. 
one acquainted with their customs will know at tirsl sight what the natioa 
who presents it intends or desires. Smoking tiie calumet is also a rcliKiout 
ceremony on some occasions, and in all treaties is considered as a witness 
between the parties, or rather as an instrument by which they invoke the nun 
and moon to witness their sincerity, and to be, as it were, a guarantee of the 
treaty between them. This custom of the Indinns, though to appearance 
somewhat ridiculous, is not without its reasons ; for as they find that smok- 
ing tends to disperse the vapours of the brain, to raise the spiriu, and to 
qualify them for thinking and judging properly, they introduced it into their 
councils, where, after their resolves, tliejjipe was considered as a seal of their 
decrees, and as a pledge of their performance thereof, it was mut to those 
they were consulting, in alliance or treaty with ; so that smoking among them 
at the same pipe, is equivalent to our drinking together, and out of the same 
cup. — Major Rogers's Account of J^orth America, ITlJti. 

The lighted calumet is also used among them for a purpose still more in- 
teresting than the expression of social friendship. The austere manners of 
the Indians forbid any apjiearancc of gallantry between the sexes in daytime ; 
but at night the young lover goes a-calumetmg, as his courtship is called. 
As these people live in a state of equality, and without ft-ar of internal vio- 
lence or theft in their own tribes, they leave their doors o|>on by night as well 
as by day. The lover takes advantage of this liberty, lights his calumet, en- 
ters the cabin of his mistress, and gently presents il to her. If she extinguish • 
es it, she admits his addresses ; but if she suffer it to burn unnoticed, ho re- 
tires with a disappointed and throbbing heart. — Jishe's IVaveU. 

Stanza 23, I. 6. 
Train'd from hit tree rock' d cradle to hit bier. 
An Indian child, as soon as he is born, is swathed with clothes, or skins ; 
and being laid upon his back, is bound down on a piece of thick board, spread 
over with soft moss. The board is somewhat larger and broader than the 
child, and bent pieces of wood, like jiieces of hoops, are placed over its face 
to protect it, so that if the machine were suffered to fall, the child probnbljr 
would not be injured. When the women have any businesi to transact at 
home, they hang the board on a tree, if there be one at hand, and set them ■- 
swinging from side to side, like a pendulum, in order to exercise the chil- 
dren.— IVddf vol. ii. p. 24G. 

Stanza 23,1.7. 

T)ie fierce extremei of gooda/td ill to brook 

Impassive 

Of the active as well as passive fortitude of the Indian character, the'fol- 
lowing is an instance related by Adair, in his Travels : — 
A party of the Seneca Indians came to war against the Katahba, bitter cne- 



316 



GERTRUDE OF WYOMING. 



mies to oach other. In tho woods the former discovered a spriglitly warrior 
belonging to the latter, hunting in their usual light dress: on his perceiving 
them, ho sprang oiT for a hollow rock four or five miles distant, as they in" 
tercepted him from running homeward. He was so extremely swift and skil- 
ful with tho gun, as to kill seven of them in the running fight, before they 
were able to surround and take him. They carried him to their country in 
sad triumph ; but thougii he had filled them with uncommon grief and shame 
for tho lossof so ninny of their kindred, yet the love of martial virtue induced 
them to treat him during their long journey, with a great deal more civility 
than if ho had acted the part of a coward. The women and children, when 
they met him at their several towns, beat him and whipped him in as severe 
a manner as tho occasion required, according to their law of justice, and at 
last he was formally condemned to die by the fiery torture. It might reasona- 
bly be imagined that what ho had for some time gone through, by being fed 
with a scanty hand, a tedious march, lying at night on the bare ground, ex- 
posed to the changes of the weather, with his arms and legs extended in a 
pair of rough stocks, and suffering such j>unishment on his entering into their 
hostile towns, as a prelude to those sharii torments for which he was destined, 
would have so impaired his health and afi'ected his imagination, as to have 
sent him to his long sleep, out the way of any more sufferings. — Probably 
this would have been tho case with tho major part of white people under simi- 
lar circumstances ; but I never knew this with any of the Indians : and this 
oool-headcd, brave warrior, did not deviate from their rough lessons of mar- 
tial virtue, but ho acted his part so well as to surprise and sorely vex his nu- 
merous enemies : — for when they were taking him, unpinioned, in their wild 
parade, to the place of torture, which lay near to a river, he suddenly dashed 
down those who stood in his way, sprang off, and plunged into the wateri 
swimming underneath like an otter, only rising to take breath, till ho reached 
tho opposite shore, lie now ascended the steep bank, but thougli he had good 
reason to bo in a hurry, as many of the enemy were in the water, and others 
running very like bloodhounds, in pursuit of him, and the bullets flying around 
him from tho time he took to the river, yet his heart did not allow him to leave 
them abruptly, without taking leave in a formal manner, in return for the ex- 
traordinary favours they had done, and intended to do him. After slapping 
a part of his body, in defiance to them, (continues tho author,) he put up the 
shrill warwhoop, as his last salute, till some more convenient opportunity of- 
fered, and darted otV in the manner of a beast broke loose from its torturing 
enemies. lie continued his s])eed, so as to run by about midnight of the same 
day as far as his eager inirsuers were two days in reaching. There he rested 
till he happily discovered five of those Indians who had pursued him : — he 
lay hi I a little way oft* their camp, till they were sound asleep. Every cir- 
cumstance of his situation occurred to him, and inspired him with heroism* 
He was naked, torn, and hungry, and his enraged enemies were come up with 
him ; but there was now every thing to relieve liis wants, and a fair opjiortu- 
nity to save his lifi;, and get great honour and sweet revenge, by cutting them 
off. Resolution, a convenient spot, and sudilen surprise, would eftect the main 
object of all his wishes and hopes. He accordingly creeped, took one of their 



NOTES TO PART I. !il7 

twmnhawks,nml killed thorn all on ihe spot, — clotliod himiioir, took a choir* 
gun, anil as murii ammunition and provisions as he could well carry in a run* 
ning march. Ho sot ofl'at'rosli with a light heart, and did notilecplor acvcrai 
successive nights, only when ho reclined as usual, a little before dny, with hit 
tack to a tree. As it were by instinct, when he found ho wa« Irco from Iho 
pursuing enemy, he made directly to the very i)laco where he had killed seven 
of his eucniies, and was^aken by tlicni for liio licry torture. He dipged ibera 
up, burned their bodies to ashes, and wont home in triumph. Other pumuin^ 
enemies came, on the evening of the second day, to the camp of their dead 
people, when the sight gave them a greater shock than they Iiad ever known 
before. In their chilled war-council they concluded, that as he had don«< (tuch 
fiurjirising things in his defence before he was captivated, and since that in 
his naked condition, and now was well-armed, if they continued the pursuit 
he would spoil them all, for surely he was an enemy wizard, and therefore 
they returned home. — Adair's General Observaticnit on the American In- 
dians, p. :{94. 

It is sMrprising, says the same author, to see the long continued speed of 
the Indians. Though some of us have often run the swiftest of them out of 
eight for about the distance of twelve miles, yet afterward, without any seem- 
ing toil, they would stretch on, leave us out of jight, and outwiud any horse.— 
Ibid. p. 318. 

If an Indian were driven out into the extensive woods, with only a knife 
and a tomahawk, or a small hatchet, it is not to be doubted but he would fatten 
even where a wolf would starve. He would soon collect fire by rubbing two 
dry pieces of wood together, make a bark hut, earthen vessels, and a bow and 
arrows ; then kill wild game, fish, fresh-water tortoises, gatJier a plentiful va- 
riety of vegetables, and live in affluence, — Ibid. p. -110. 

Stanza 24. 1. 7. 
Moccasins is a sort of Indian buskins. 

St.vnza 25. 1.1. 

Sleep, wearied one ! nnti in the lircnming Ian! 
S/iou>d3l thou to morrote vil/t thy mother mett. 

There is nothing (says Charlevoix) in which these barbarians rnrry tiieir »u- 
perstitions further, than in what rt-gurds dreams ; but they vary greatly in their 
manner of explaining themselves on this point. 'Sometimes it is the reasonable 
soul which ranges abroad, while the sensitive continues to animate the body. 
Sometime.^ it is the familiar genius who gives salutary counsel with respect 
to what is going to happen. Sometimes it is a visit made by the soul of the 
object of which he dreams. But in whatever manner the dream is conceived 
it is always looked upon as a thing sacred, and as the most ordinary way in 
which the gods make known their will to men. Filled with this idea, they 
cannot conceive how we should \y.\y no regard to them. For the most part 
they look upon them either as a desire of the soul, inspired by some genius, of 
an order from him, and in consequence of this principle they hold it a reli- 
gious duty to obey thtm. An Indian having dreamt of having a finger cut 

27* 



318 GERTRUDE OF WYOMING. 

off, had it really cut of as soon as he awoke, having iirst prepared himself for 
this important action by a feast. Another having dreamt of being a prisoner, 
and in the hands of his enemies, was much at a loss what to do. He consulted 
the jugglers, and by their advice caused himself to be tied to a post, and burnt 
in several parts of the body. — Charlevoix, Journal of a Voyage to JVorth 
Jimerica. 

Stanza 26. 1. 5. 

77ie crocodile, the condor of the rock — 
The alligator, or American crocodile, when full grown, (says Bertram,) ia 
a very large and terrible creature, and of prodigious strength, activity, and 
swiftness in the water. I have seen them twenty feet in length, and some are 
supposed to.be twenty-two or twenty-three feet in length. Their body is aa 
large as that of a horse, their shape usually resembles tliat of a lizard, which 
is flat, or cuneiform, being compressed on each side, and gradually diminish- 
ing from the abdomen to the extremity, wliich, with the whole body, is cov- 
ered with horny plates, of squamoe, impenetrable when on the body of the 
live animal, even to a rifle bail, except about their head, and just behind their 
fore-legs or arms, where, it is said, they are only vulnerable. The head of a 
full-grown one is about three feet, and the mouth opens nearly the same 
length. Their eyes are small in proportion, and seem sunk in the head, by 
means of the prominency of the brows ; the nostrils are large, inflated, and 
prominent on the top, so that the head on the water resembles at a distance, 
a great chunk of wood floating about : only the upper jaw moves, which they 
raise almost perpendicular, so as to form a right angle with the lower one. 
In the forepart of the upper jaw, on each side, just under the nostrils, are two 
very large, thick, strong teeth, or tusks, not very sharp, but rather the shape 
of a cone ; these are as white as the finest polished ivory, and are not covered 
by any skin or lips, but always in sigiit, which gives the creature a frightful 
appearance ; in the lower jaw are holes opposite to these teeth to receive 
them ; when they clap their jaws together, it causes a surprising noise, like 
that which is made by forcing a heavy plank with violence irpon the ground, 
and may be heard at a great distance. But what is yet more surprising to a 
stranger, is the incredibly loud and terrifying roar which they are capable of 
making, especially in breeding-time. It most resembles very heavy distant 
thunder, not only shaking the air and waters, but causing the earth to trem- 
ble ; and when hundreds are roaring at the same time, you can scarcely be 
persuaded but that the whole globe is violently and dangerously agitated. An 
old champion, who is, perhaps, absolute sovereign of a little lake or lagooDi 
(when fifty less than himself arc obliged to content themselves with swelling 
and roaring in little coves round about,) darts forth from the reedy coverts, 
all at once, on the surface of the waters in a right line, at first seemingly as 
rapid as lightning, but gradually more slowly, until he arrives at the centre 
of the lake, where ho stops. He now swells himself by drawing in wind and 
water through his mouth., which causes a lond sonorous rattling in the throat 
for near a minute ; but it is iuimediufely forced out again through liis mouth 
and nostrils with a loud nose, brandishing his tail in the air, and the vapour 



NOTES TO PART I. 319 

running from his nostrils like smoko. At othor times, wlion itwoln to nn ex. 
tent ready to hurst, iiis licad nnd tail lifted up, he spins or twirls round on tho 
surfuco of the water. lie act« liis ])art like an Indian rhief, when rehcnrsinf 
his feats of war. — Bertram's Travels in Korth America. 

Stanza 27. 1. 4. 

TTien forth uprose ihat lone vnyfaring man. 
They discover an amazing sagacity, and acquire, with the grcatrit readi- 
ness, any thing that depends upon the attention of the mind. By experience, 
and an acute observation, they attain many perfections to which Americans 
are strangers. For instance, they will cross a forest or a plain, wliich ii two 
hundred miles in breadth, so as to reach, with greet exactness, the point at 
which they intend to arrive, keeping, during the whole of that space, in a di- 
rect line, wiihout any material deviations ; and this they will do with tho same 
ease, let the weather be fair or cloudy. With equal acutencss they will point 
to that part of the heavens tiic sun is in, tliough it bo intercepte«l by clouds or 
fogs. Besides this, they are able to pursue, with incredible facility, the tracea 
of man or beast, either on leaves or grass ; and on this account it is with great 
difficulty they escape discovery. They arc indebted for these talents, not only 
to nature, but to an extraordinarycommandof the intellectual qualities, which 
can only be acquired by an unremitted attention, and by lung experience. 
They are, in general, very happy in a retentive memory. They can recapitu- 
late evciy particular that has been treated of in council, and remember tho 
exact time when they were held. Their belts of wampum preserve the »ub- 
stance of the treaties they have concluded with the neighbouring tribei for 
ages back, to which they will appeal and refer with as much perspicuity and 
readiness as Europeans can to their written records. 

The Indians are totally unskilled in geography, as well as all tho other 
sciences, and yet they draw on their birch-bark very exact charts or mapiiof 
the countries they arc acquainted with. The latitude and longitude only are 
wanting to make them tolerably complete. 

Their sole knowledge in astronomy consists in being able to point out tho 
polar star, by which they regulate their course when they travt-l in the nieht. 
They reckon the distance of places, not by miles or lcngue«, but by a tlay'i 
journey, whirh, according to the best calculation I could make, oppenrt to 
be about twenty English miles. These they also divide into halves and quar- 
ters, and will demonstrate them in their maps with great cxaclneM by the 
hieroglyphics just mentioned, when they regulate in council their war-parlivs 
or their most distant hunting excursions — Lewis and Clarke's IVavtls. 

Some of the French missionaries have (supposed that the Indinn* are guided 
by instinct, and have pretendeii that Indian children can find their way 
through a forest as easily as a person of maiurer yeart ; but thin in a most 
absurd notion. It is unquetitionably by a close attention to the growth ofihe 
trees, and position of the sun, that they find their way. On tho northern side 
of a tree there is generally the most moss ; and tho bark on that side, in gen- 
eral, differs from that on tho opposite one. The branches towards the south 
are, for the most part, more luxuriant than those on the other sides of trees 



320 GERTRUDE OF WYOMING. 

and several other distinctions also subsist between the northern and southern 
sides, conspicuous to Indians, being taught from their infiincy to attend to 
them, which a common observer would, perhaps, never notice. Being accus- 
tomed from tlieir infancy likewise to pay great attention to the position of the 
sun, they learn to make the most accurate allowance for its apparent motion 
from one part of the heavens to another ; and in every part of the day they 
will point to the part of the heavens where it is, although the sky be obscured 
by clouds or mists. 

An instance of their dexterity in finding their way through an unknown coun- 
try came under my observation when I was at Staunton, situated behind the 
Blue Mountains, Virginia. A number of the Creek nation had arrived at that 
town on their way to Philadelphia, whither they were going upon some affairs 
of importance, and had stopped there for the night. In the morning, some cir- 
cumstance or other which could not be learned, induced one half of the In- 
dians to set off without their companions, who did not follow until some 
hours afterward. When these last were ready to pursue their journey, se- 
veral of the towns-people mounted their horses to escort them part of the 
way. They proceeded nlong the high road for some miles, but, all at once, 
hastily turning aside into the woods, though there was no path, the Indians 
advanced confidently forward. The people who accompanied them, surprised 
at this movement, informed tliom that they were quitting the road to Phila- 
delphia, and expressed their fear lest they should miss their companions who 
had gone on before. They answered that they knew better, that the way 
through the woods was the shortest to Philadelphia, and that they knew very 
well that their companions had entered the wood at the very place where 
they did. Curiosity led some of the horsemen to go on ; and to their aston- 
ishment, for there was apparently no track, they overtook the other Indians 
in the thickest part of the wood. But what appeared most singular was, that 
the route which they took was found, on examining a map, to be as direct 
for Piiiladelphia as if they had taken the bearings by a mariner's compass. 
From others of their nation who had i)een at Philadel|)hia at a former period, 
they had probably learned the exact directionof that city from their villages, 
and had never lost sight of it, although they had already travelled three hun- 
dred miles through the woods, and had upwards of four hundred miles more 
to go before they could reach the place of their destination. — Of the exact- 
ness with which fthey can find out a strange place to which they have been 
once directed by their own peoi)le, a striking example is furnished, I think, by 
Mr. Jeflfcrson, in his account of the Indian graves in Virginia. These graves 
are nothing more than large mounds of earth in the woods, which, on being 
opened, are found to contain skeletons in an erect posture : the Indian mode 
of sepulture has been too often described to remain unknown to you. But to 
come to my story. A party of Indians that were passing on to some of the sea- 
ports on the Atlantic, just us the Creeks, above mentioned, were going to Phi- 
ladelphia, were observed, all on a sudden, to quit the straight road by which 
they were proceeding, and without asking any questions, to strike through 
the woods, in a direct line, to one of these graves, which lay at the distance 
of some miles from the road. Now very near a century must have passed 



NOTES TO PART I. 



321 



over since the part of Virginia in wliich this grave wan iiitnatod, had boon 
inhabited by Indians, and these Indian travellers, who were to vinit it by 
themselves, had unquestionably never been in that part of the country before : 
they must have found their way to it simply frorn the description of its situa- 
tion, that had been handed down to them by tradition. — Weld's IVatels in 
J^orth America, vol. ii. 



NOTES 

TO GERTRUDE OF WYOMING. 

PART III. 



Stanza 16, 1. 4. 

The Mammoth comes 



That I am justified in making the Indian chief allude to the mammoth as an 
emblem of terror and destruction, will be seen by the authority quoted be- 
low. Speaking of the mammolh, or big buffalo, Mr. Jefferson states, that a 
tradition is preserved among the Indians of that animal still existing in the 
northern parts of America. 

"A delegation of warriors from the Delaware tribe having visited the gov- 
ernor of Virginia during the revolution, on matters of business, the governor 
asked them some questions relative to their country, and among others, what 
they knew or had heard of the animal whose bones were found at the Salt- 
licks, on the Ohio. Their chief speaker immediately put himself into an at- 
titude of oratory, and with a pomp suited to what he conceived the elevation 
of his subject, informed him, that it was a tradition handed down from their 
fathers, that in ancient times a herd of these tremendous animals came to 
the Big-bone-licks, and began a universal destruction of the bear, deer, elk, 
buffalo, and other animals which had been created for the use of the Indians. 
That the Great Man above looking down and seeing this, was so enraged, 
that he seized iiis lightning, descended on the earth, seated himself on a 
neighbouring mountain on a rock, of which his seat and the prints of his 
feet are still to be seen, and hurled his bolts among them, till the whole were 
slaughtered, except the big bull, who, presenting his forehead to the shafts, 
shook them off as they fell, but missing one, at length it wounded him in the 
side, whereon, springing round, he bounded over the Ohio, over the Wa- 
bash, the Illinois, and finally over the great lakes, where he is living at this 
day." — Jefferson's JVotes on Virginia. 



Stanza 17, 1. 1. 

lo weld the hatchet J 
trant himself I went tc 
took the character of Brant in the poem of Gertrude from the common 



Scorning to weld the hatchet for hig bribe, 
'Gainst Brant himself I uent to battle forth- 



NOTES TO PART III. 



323 



Histories of Engluiid, all of wliirli rciireveiitod hitn an a liloodyand bad man, 
(even uniong saviipcs,) and chief Ofjiiit in thn horrible denolation of Wyo- 
ming. Some years aftrr tliii* poem appeur*-d, thi* mou of Hrant, a nwtot iiitur- 
csting and intelligent youth, came over to England, and I formed an acquain- 
tance with him, on which I still look back with pleasure, llo appeuhd to 
my sense of honour and justice, on his own part and on that of hia ■isl<-r, to 
retract the unfair aspersions which, unconscious of iu unfairness, I had cast 
on his father's memory. 

He then referred me to documents which completely satisfied mo that the 
common accounts of Brant's cruelties at Wyoming, which I had found in 
books of Travels, and in Adolphus's and similar Histories of En^lvnd, wi-ru 
gross errors, and that, in point of fact, Brant was nut even present at lliat 
scene of desolation. 

It is, unhappily, to Biitons and Anglo-Americans that wo must rcft-r tha 
chief blame in this horrible business. I published a letter expressing this be- 
lief in the JVcw Monthly Magazine, in the year 1822, to which I must refer 
the reader — if he has any curiosity on the subject — for an antidote to my 
fanciful description of Brant. Among other expressions to young Brnnt, I 
made use of the following words : "Had I learnt all this of your father 
when I was writing my poem, he should not have figured in it as liio hero 
of mischief." It was but bare justice to say thus much of a Muhawk In- 
dian, who spoke English fluently, and was thought capable of having written 
a history of the Six Nations. I ascertained also that he often strove to miti- 
gate the cruelty of Indian warfare. The name of Brant, therefore, remains 
in my poem a pure and declared character of fiction. 

Sta.nza 17, 1. 8 and 9. 

To ickom nor relative nor blood reinairu. 

No, ttol a kiudred drop thai tutu in human vein*. 

Every one who recollects the specimen of Indian eloquence given in tbo 
speech of Logan, a Mingo chief, to the Governor of Virginia, will percciro 
that I have attempted to paraphrase its concluding ond most striking expres- 
sion : — "There runs not a drop of my blood in the veins of any living crea- 
ture." The similar salutation of the fictitious personage in my story, ami 
the real Indian orator, makes it surely ullowuble to borrow such an expres- 
sion ; and if it appears, as it cannot but appear, to less advantage than in ti|« 
original, I beg the reader to reflect how difficult it is to trani>)Hi«e such c*- 
(juisitely simple words without sacrificing a portion of ttieir effect. 

In the spring of 1774, a robbery and murder were committed on an inhabi- 
tant of the fro{itiors of Virginia, by two Indians of the Shawanec tribe. Tbo 
neighbouring whites, according to their custom, undertook to punish thu 
outrage in a summary manner. Colonel Cresap, a man iul'anious fur the ma- 
ny murders he had committed on those much injured people, collected • 
jiarty and proceeded down tJio Kanoway in quest of vengeance : unfortu- 
nately, (I canoe with women and children, with one man only, was seen com- 
ing from the opposite shore, unarmed, and unsuspecting an attack from tho 
whites. Cresap and his party concealed themselves on the bank >)( th« 



324 GERTRUDE OF WYOMING. 

river, and the moment the canoe reached the shore, singled out their objects, 
and at one fire killed every person in it. This happened to be the family of 
Logan, who had long been distinguished as a friend to the whites. This un- 
worthy return provoked his vengeance; he accordingly signalized himself in 
the war which ensued. In the autumn of the same year a decisive battle 
was fought at the mouth of the great Kanaway, in which the collected forces 
of the Shawances, Mingoes, and Delawares, were defeated by a detaclmient 
of the Virginia militia. The Indians sued for peace. Logan, however, dis- 
dained to be seen among the supplicants ; but lest the sincerity of a treaty 
should be disturbed, from which so distinguished a chief abstracted himself, 
he sent, by a messenger, the following speech to be delivered to Lord Dun- 
more : — 

" I appeal to any white man if he ever entered Logan's cabin hungry, and 
he gave him not to eat ; if ever he came cold and hungry, and he clothed 
him not. During the course of the last long and bloody war, Logan remain- 
ed idle in his cabin, an advocate for peace. Such was my love for the whites, 
that my countrymen pointed as they passed, and said, Logan is the friend of 
white men. I have even thought to have lived with you, but for the injuries of 
one man. Colonel Cresap, the last spring, in cold blood, murdered all the 
relations of Logan, even my women and children. 

"There runs not a drop of my blood in the veins of any living creature: — 
this called on me for revenge. I have fought for it. I have killed many. 1 
have fully glutted my vengeance. For my country, I rejoice at the beams of 
peace ; — but do not harbour a thought that mine is the joy of fear. Logan 
never felt fear. He will not turn on his heel to save his life. Who is there 
to mourn for Logan ? not one !" — Jefferson's JVotes on Virginia. 



THE END. 



L6Je14 



